The Path not taken
by shadowfire
Summary: Be sure to check to make sure that when you kill a person, it is actually them you killed. Syaoran obviously didn't learn this lesson with Sakura and the time for revenge and maybe forgiveness is now
1. To choose the path

This is not your typical romance where the couple falls in love and they live happily after

Before you all read this, don't go out and flame me just because I have different opinions then you. I was born with a twisted mind. So sit back and enjoy.

It was a dark night with the full moon shining over the field that Sakura stood on. In front of her, stood the Void card, which was swallowing everything in its path. Syaoran stood by her side, sword in hand. They were the last people left to face the card and seal it. The card looked up at her and swallowed Syaoran. Sakura dropped to her knees and started sobbing. She had loved Syaoran so much. She pulled the Sword card out; the only card that Void hadn't absorbed and changed the staff. She brought the staff up to her throat, her hand shaking. Life without Syaoran wasn't a life she wanted to live. She made a motion to slash her throat, but she couldn't do it. The sword fell out of her hand and clattered to the ground. She sat on the ground, face in her hands remembering all the times that Syaoran had helped her. How he always protected her when she was hurt, how he went nuts when Eriol was nearby, how much he had changed from the brat he was to her best friend and lover.

"Hold that thought, Sakura," said a strange voice that was coming from above her.

She looked up and there stood a girl, an older version of her, except for the eyes. Her eyes were the color of the sky before it stormed, which were illuminated by the moonlight giving her an errie glow.

"Who are you?" asked Sakura

"You don't need to know who I am, you just have to listen to me," the girl replied.

"You are in great danger. Just because someone appears, a friend doesn't mean they really are. People don't change Sakura."

"What do you mean?"

The gray-eyed girl made a motion with her chin to a spot a few feet from Sakura. On the ground was Syaoran's body spawled over the grass. Sakura rushed over to him and checked his pulse. Still beating, but barely.

"Syaoran would never hurt me, he loves me," Sakura yelled, tears streaming down her small face.

"Believe what you like Sakura, but listen to me. He is not loyal to you as you believe him to be. His loyalty is to his clan," she responded coldly. 2 white wings tipped in gold appeared from her back and covered her. When the wings unfolded, there was only air standing where she had once stood.

Syaoran let out a grunt and picked up his sword.

"Syaoran,don't. You are too weak to face the card. Let me handle it," Sakura pleaded.

She pushed him back on the ground and walked over to where the card stood.

"You're going down, Void," she shouted, sword in the air ready to strike. Too late she heard the whistle of a sword in flight. She turned around and she saw Syaoran's sword coming down on her head. She screamed.

Sakura woke up with a start, sweating running down her face. She looked around her room making sure that everything was normal. Kero, her guardian looked at her in worry. He hated seeing her like this, scared out of her wits.

"What's wrong, Sakura," asked Kero.

"I had that dream again. The one with the Void card, except this time the girl spoke and I saw," Sakura sniffled."I saw the person who killed me."

"Who was it?" asked Kero

"It was Syaoran," and Sakura broke down into tears.

Kero floated down to her and gave her the best hug he could considering the size of his paws.

"It's okay, it's going to be okay," Kero reassured her.

After sobbing for almost a half of hour, Sakura finally quieted down and Kero laid her down and tucked her in.

He looked at her sleeping form, so quiet and peaceful. It had almost 3 months since the capture and changing of the Void card. Every night since that day, Sakura had the same dream but every night something more got added. Kero sat on the windowsill looking at the moon wondering about what it all meant. He liked to believe that Syaoran would never hurt sakura, but Sakura vision's were always right. Then there was the matter of the girl in the dream. Was the girl Sakura or someone else? He did not like her, whoever she was. All of Sakura's previous dreams that had people in it, the person appeared in her life shortly after. Kero opened the drawer containing the Clow book as quietly as he could, so not to wake Sakura. He pulled out 5 cars out of the deck randomly to do a reading. He put them in the shape of a diamond, 1 on top, 3 in the middle, and 1 on the bottom. He flipped over the first card, the one that identified the threat. Mirror. Kero swore under his breath angry, he already knew that the girl was a mirror image of Sakura.

He flipped over the 3 cards in the center, that would describe the person. Power, Windy, Change. Power meant that she was powerful, windy meant that she was someone that Sakura knew and was smart because it knew and saw all. It took him a few minutes to figure out what Change meant. Change was one of the cards that rarely showed up in readings. He focused, trying to remember what Clow had said about the card. Clow had said something about Change, in a reading about a person having the ability to change to fit the situation at hand. Kero picked up the last card, the card that summed it up. Twin. Kero, frustrated because he had learned almost nothing from the reading, put the cards in the book, put it back in the drawer, and went back to sleep.

"Bring,Bring"

"Hello…yeah, do you want to talk to her…OK. Sakura, it's for you, "yelled Touya, phone in hand.

Sakura groaned, she had just woken up and was starting to drift back off. For goodness sake, it was 7:00 in the morning.

"Tell whoever it is, to call back later, I'm sleeping," moaned Sakura

"But Sakura, it's Syaoran," yelled Touya, smirking.

Sakura leapt out of bed, nearly running over Kero who was eating a pudding cup. She ran down the stairs and grabbed the phone.

"Hello…hey Syaoran…what's up. .No I'm not…Sure, I'll see you at 7:00, bye."

"Yes," Sakura yelled dancing around in joy.

"Why are you so happy," asked Touya suspiciously.

"Syaoran asked me on a date to celebrate our 3 month anniversary. At 7:00, I'm meeting him at his apartment." Noticing Touya's face she quickly added," Then we're going to the movies or something. Oh, crap what am I going to wear."

Sakura bolted up the stairs into her room and frantically went through her closets. Kero smiled at the sight of his mistress worrying about what to wear on her date. After the incident with the Void card, Syaoran and her had stopped being afraid of rejection and had been happily going out for the last 3 months. 

"Kero, I have nothing to wear," whined Sakura.

"Why don't you go over to Tomoyo's and see if she will make you something cute to wear," suggested Kero.

"Great idea, thanks," Sakura said as she grabbed her coat and headed toward the door.

Kero smiled to himself and went back to eating his pudding cup.

"You sure this looks ok," said Sakura looking at herself in the mirror at all angles, to see Tomoyo's latest creation.

"You look great. I can guarantee that Syaoran will be drooling all over the floor after seeing you."

Sakura was dressed in a tight long-sleeve pink shirt that showed her stomach when she rose her hands and a pair of black bellbottoms. It wasn't a typical thing that she would wear, but Tomoyo insisted that it was perfect for tonight. Anyway, it made her feel so good when Tomoyo was happy. Sakura grabbed her coat off Tomoyo's bed and headed toward the door, but stopped like she just remembered something.

"Tomoyo, please don't follow me and video-tape me because I really want tonight to be special and.."

"No, it's okay. I won't videotape you or follow you guys," interupted Tomoyo.

"Thanks." Sakura gave her grateful smile. "I'll call later and tell you everything that happened," and Sakura walked out the door.

Syaoran Li stood outside his apartment door waiting for Sakura to arrive. He was pacing back and forth, nervous out of his mind. He tried to focus on his training, the lesson on how to control emotions. He would need it tonight. He was so deep in thought, he did not hear the approach of his girlfriend. Sakura snuck up behind him and whispered into his ear, Boo. Syaoran nearly jumped out of his skin, how could he not have heard her. Sakura, like always, looked absolutely beautiful, which would make his task difficult. He took notice of the Clow key around her neck. Ever since Eriol had come, Sakura won't leave the key home, just in case something happened.

"I'm sorry, Syaoran. I didn't mean to scare you," Sakura apologized, giving Syaoran a kiss on the cheek, which sent him blushing.

"So, where are we going?" asked Sakura.

"I was thinking about a picnic in the park."

"At this hour"

Syaoran shrugged ,"If you don't want to, we don't have to."

"No, that's fine. Come on, let's go," Sakura said grabbing his arm.

As they walked, Sakura couldn't help admiring the sky. It was a cloudy night with only the cresent moon showing. She noticed how the few lone clouds in the sky were black, like it would storm any second.

They arrived at the park and set up their picnic dinner next to the penguin slide, the place where alot of the capturing and changing of the cards had taken place.

Syaoran had packed an awesome dinner, steak sandwiches with homemade potato salad. It was a great dinner and they did the normal stuff that couples did, but Sakura could tell that Syaoran wasn't into it. Something was troubling him. 

"Syaoran, what's wrong?" asked Sakura.

"It's nothing," Syaoran replied a little more harshly then he meant to.

"What's…"Sakura was interrupted by the rustling of the bushes near them and an errie sound coming from in the woods. Sakura ran into Syaoran's arms, thinking that it was a ghost. As Sakura stared in terror at the moving bushes, Syaoran ever so slowly slipped the Clow key from around Sakura's neck.

Sakura immediately jumped away from him and faced him. "Why do you have the key?" asked Sakura confused," There might be something out there and I need the key."

Syaoran replied calmly," There is nothing out there."

"What do you mean? Come on Syaoran, this isn't funny, I need the key. Give it back to me."

Syaoran grinned as he said" It's nothing, Meilin is out there."

" And why is Meilin out there."

"Because I told her to be. You see, Sakura, if I want to be the leader of my clan, I have to return to Hong Kong with the cards. And because of you, I haven't been able to. I was destined to be the master of them, but no, a non-magical person opens the book and gets to be their master." Syaoran said, his voice radiating with anger.

Sakura looked at him confused, "But, if you wanted to the cards, you could have just asked me, I would have given them to you."

"But it's not that simple. You're their master, and they'll only obey you. I, being the other person that captured the cards means that I become their master only if you die," Syaoran said, eyes flashing.

The truth dawned on Sakura. He was going to kill her. Her own soul mate was going to kill her. She may not have her cards, but she wasn't helpless. She bolted toward the exit of the park, but before she could move 2 feet, she was tackled from behind by Merlin.

"You not getting away, Kinomoto," Meilin growled, pulling Sakura up and held her so that she won't move.

Syaoran took off his sword pendent from around his neck and made it grow big. He closed his eyes as he brought the sword parallel to his shoulder." I'm sorry I have to do this, Sakura," he said sounding regretful." I really want to be the leader of the clan and this is the only way. If I didn't have to do this, I won't but.." Syaoran brought the sword up, his eyes tearing up. He swung the sword straight at Sakura's head. Sakura closed her eyes, thinking that this is how she was going to die. She prayed to God that Yue and Kero would show up. A strange feeling came over her, like she was being separated from her body.

"Maybe this how it feels to die," she thought to herself in horror.

She opened her eyes and saw that she was surrounded by a blue light that seemed to be moving her so that Syaoran's sword would miss her. She turned around and saw Meilin lying against a tree, rubbing her head, from being thrown into it. She saw a flash of silver coming from behind her. It was his sword. There was no time to move away from it. Suddenly, she felt all tinglely, like with the incident with the Move card. She looked at where she stood, it had changed. She was 3 feet from where she just stood.

Meilin grabbed her from behind. "It's no use, she just moves everytime you swing," yelled Meilin.

Syaoran stopped the sword and looked at Sakura and the key in his hand.

"How…how is she doing this," he mumbled to himself. He looked at her straight in the eye searching for some clue if she knew what had just happened, which she didn't. It wasn't the Move card because she would have sensed its aura. Syaoran reached into his jeans pocket and pulled out a yellow piece of paper with strange writing on it, properly containing some kind of spell.

"What is it?" Sakura asked in worry.

"Why do you want to know?"

"Because if I'm going to die, I least have a right to know how I died."

"Syaoran, don't listen to her. She's just trying to stall us so that Yue and Kero can save her," called Meilin from behind Sakura.

Syaoran took in what Meilin said, but he decided to tell Sakura. A part of him wanted Yue & Kero to find them, so he would have an excuse to why he hadn't killed her.

"The card, when hit by the sword, shoots out a beam that will kill whatever it hits immediately. The beam is impossible to stop and it follows it's target until it hits," he explained.

"I'm sorry it has to end this way, but I can't risk you or whatever force here from preventing me from killing you. 

"Now Meilin, would you please tie Sakura's hands to the tree and move so that the beam doesn't miss and hit you."

Meilin took out a piece of rope from within her battle costume and backed Sakura up to the tree that she had crashed into a few minutes ago. She put a piece around each wrist and tied them together around the tree. Sakura struggled to get free, but it was no use. The ropes were too tight and tightly wound to break or loosen them.

As Syaoran got ready to strike the card, Sakura thought about how to stall them longer. She couldn't come up with anything. She quickly re-played the events that just happened in her mind, looking for some inspiration. Something wasn't adding up.

"Syaoran."

Syaoran looked up from what he was doing annoyed, because any second Kero & Yue would show up and he would get his ass kicked by them. "Yeah"

"Okey, you said you wanted the cards and I said I would give them to you, but yet you still want to kill me. Why?"

Syaoran sighed." Because even if you gave them to me, you could still use them and they'll consider me as their master if their current master died. Does that answer your question? Now, I have to kill you."

Syaoran held the card and threw it into the air. As the card slowly fell back to Earth, he shouted," Death," and hit the card with his sword. A beam flew out of the card, as the card crumbled into ashes. The beam went flying towards Sakura. She watched it in rapid horror as it got closer and closer.

A/N : Yes, I know I'm evil. I'll get the next part up hopefully in a few days. The more reviews I get, the faster I'll write. I'm not exactly sure what pairings I'll do for the story because I have a problem with every coupling so, in your reviews tell what pairing you would like. 


	2. Life or Death

Sakura watched the beam get closer and closer

I'm back. Here's the next chapter. I would like to thank all the people who reviewed. You guys are great. Thanks to DevilsDarling for giving me a great idea for what to do. Enjoy. 
    
    Sakura watched the beam get closer and closer. She was scared about what was going to happen. Was she going to die peacefully or in a lot of pain? She began sobbing for all the things that would never happen. Her first serious boyfriend, graduation, college, getting married, having kids. She cried for all the people that she was leaving behind: Tomoyo, Kero, Yukito, Yue, Eriol, Nakura/Ruby, Suppi, Touya, and her father. At least when she died, she would see her mother again. It drove her nuts that Touya had been able for years to see her. The beam was inching its way forward. She looked at the beam, silent. She would not give Meilin and Syaoran the satisfaction of hearing her beg for her life. Suddenly, out of the sky, came a beam of reddish light. The light hit the beam head on and then scattered forming a barrier around Sakura. The death beam spilt into 2 and went back into the direction in which it had came from. Syaoran and Meilin went flying for cover so that they could do the spell that got rid of it. This was her chance to get free. She wiggled her hands trying to get the ropes off, when she realized something. She was free. She bolted, grabbing the Clow key, which had fallen from Syaoran's hand when he had dove for cover. She released the staff and called on Dash & Jump. She ran as fast as she could. She could hear their footsteps behind her, pounding the ground. She was slowly tiring from using 2 cards and running. All around her were trees, but not the particular one that she was looking for. She had to find it fast, Syaoran & Meilin had been training since they were little, and had almost boundless energy. She spotted the tree. It was a dead oak that's inside been completely hollowed out and you had to climb high to get in and see someone. She jumped, easily landing on the branch and slid her body in as far as she could. It was snug, but it would do. Anyway, there was a little hole in the bark so she could see what was happening. She watched as Syaoran & Meilin stopped right in the area of trees that she was in.

"Syaoran, I got an idea. Why don't we use the lasin board? It'll sense her magical powers," Meilin suggested

"Great idea." Syaoran took it out and chanted:

_The kings of gods command gods appear from all directions_

Gold, wood, water, fire, earth, thunder, wind, lightning

The New Command

Soft Thunder, Spinning Thunder

Obey the command

Sakura was going ballistic in the tree. She had forgotten about him having the board. She concentrated on the spell that Kero had taught her earlier this week for fun that would hide her powers. Just as she finished her spell, Syaoran shouted to the board, "Where is Sakura."

The board went wacko, sending beams of light everywhere. The beam, after several minutes of mass confusion, pointed to a Sakura tree that was 20 feet away from her. She looked at the tree and using her magical senses, tried to figure out what was in it that made the board go off. She closed her eyes and concentrated on the aura. It was hers! "That can't be possible, "she thought to herself. Every person in the world that had magical powers had an aura, but every aura was different. So how it could it be possible for a person the same as hers? She pressed her eyes to her little peephole so she could see what was about to happen. Syaoran & Meilin walked over to the tree, weapons drawn. Syaoran made a motion for Meilin to go on one side of the tree, himself the other. On the count of 3, they would attack the tree. When they got to 3, just as Syaoran swung his sword, something jumped out of the tree and starting running. The person was moving at super- human speeds and couldn't be seen by the naked eye. Just as the force passed the tree that Sakura was stuck in, she could have swore that the figure slowed down a tad, winked at her, then sped up to get away from Syaoran & Meilin. If Sakura was right about the force winking at her that meant the force was helping her get away from the Li cousins. Sakura jumped out the tree she was in and called on Fly. The wings sprouted on her back and she jumped into the air. She flew in the direction that the force and Syaoran had gone in. She knew that what she was doing was dangerous, but she had to know more about the force helping her. She spotted Syaoran & Meilin at the end of the park looking around, confused expressions on their faces.

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"Sakura" had somehow given them the slip. Syaoran sat down on the ground, heavily breathing from all the running he had done. From where they located her to where he now sat was around 2 miles. Meilin, as like reading his mind said," Syaoran, if you're wiped out that means that Sakura is properly is 2 times more tired then you. Now is the time to get her."

Syaoran stumbled to his feet and tried the lasin board again to locate Sakura. Only this time, the board just sat there, it didn't point out anything. Syaoran looked on in horror, the board had never done this before.

"Do you want to give up, Syaoran? We can always go after tomorrow," asked Meilin, silently pleading for him to say yes. Her legs were killing her.

"No, we can't. After tonight, Yue and Kero will be on guard for us. There would be no way to get the cards. We will stay here searching all night, if that what it takes. She mustn't get out of the park alive."

But how do you know that she's still here and not somewhere else?"

"Because, I just have this feeling in my gut that she's nearby. And when I find her," Syaoran rose his sword, "I'm going to kill her." Truthfully, he didn't feel that way. Somewhat he was glad that Sakura got away. He wanted to leave the park letting Sakura live, but that wasn't an option. If he wanted to rule the clan, he had to get the cards.

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Sakura flew behind the tops of the trees so that she wouldn't be found if one of them looked up into the air. The idea of fighting him came to mind, but she didn''t have the guts to do it. She was scared to leave the park because then she would have no idea what was happening. Knowing Syaoran, he would not leave until she was found and if she actually managed to give him the slip, he'd track her down. She prayed to every god that she could think of to somehow get Syaoran out of the park and into his apartment.

Like a god was answering her prayers, a tree branch snapped only a few feet from where Meilin stood. Syaoran immediately perked up and followed the sound, Meilin at his heels. Sakura flew slightly higher so she could see what was happening. All her senses were alert waiting for something to happen. Syaoran crept up on a pile of bushes and thrusted his sword into it. Out popped out a girl that somewhat resembled Sakura. The girl dashed as fast as she could toward the exit of the park. Syaoran gave chase. If Syaoran & Meilin had been less eager about following the girl, they would have noticed that the girl wasn't Sakura, it was just a girl who looked like her from a distance. As Syaoran ran, he pulled out 2 cards, Lightning & Fire. He sent out 3 bolts of lightning at the moving figure. The girl managed to avoid the first bolt, but the second hit her, sending her flying into a tree. Blood poured down her face from the cut on the back of her head. The final blow hit her and the girl went lifeless, looking like an old rag doll. Syaoran stood about 100 feet away from her and sent a blast of fire at the girl. The body was lit in flames. Sakura turned away, feeling like she was going to throw up. Whoever the girl was, she had given her own life to protect hers. Tears streamed down her face, thinking that it could have been her down there. God, she felt so guilty. Here she was celebrating that she was alive, while a person was being consumed by the flames, dying.

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Syaoran Li looked at the flames. He had killed his own girlfriend, the only one that had understood him. His eyes teared up either from the smoke or himself, he couldn't tell. Sakura had trusted him and he had broken it. He was mad about ever going here to Japan, mad at the clan for giving him this task, but most of all mad at himself for choosing to do this. He didn't have to kill her. He could have told the Elders no, but him being who he was did it. He couldn't bear the site of Sakura burning alive any longer. He threw out his water card and it doused the flames. He looked at his beloved, looking for any sound of life. But there was none. Syaoran dropped to his knees crying for what he had done. Meilin walked over to the charcoaled body and put her hand on Sakura's neck, looking for a pulse. There was none. Meilin looked over the body, trying not to cry. Sakura had always been nice to her, even though she was awful to her. She searched the body for the key, but it wasn't on her. She walked over to where Syaoran knelt and helped him up.

"Syaoran, the key wasn't on her. We need to find it," whispered Meilin.

Syaoran followed her through the woods, his body on autopilot. He felt numb. He had killed someone, neither less his own girlfriend.

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Sakura sat down on the ground, her whole body shaking from her silent sobbing and the shock of what she had just saw. She should be hiding, they were still looking for the key, but she couldn't bring herself to care. A roll of thunder could be heard in the distance and the skies opened up, sending down rain. Lightning cracked in the sky, warming the air, giving some sort of funky light show. It was dangerous to be out during a storm like this, but it fit her mood perfectly. The skies seemed to be mourning the death of the girl. She sat in the rain for around 15 minutes, her clothes soaked to the bone. A gust of wind whirled around her, making her shiver uncontrollably. She leaned on the tree, closed her eyes, and gave in to her exhaustion.

"Sakura…Sakura," shouted voices in the distance.

She was so tired and cold. She tried to choke out something, but she didn't have the energy to. The mirror and the fiery card, sensing their mistress in danger, unsealed themselves. Fiery created several fires around Sakura to keep her warm while Mirror went out to look for help. Fiery knew the fires wouldn't last for long in a storm this size, but she hoped they would last long enough for Mirror to find whoever was calling. "Please hurry," Fiery whispered.

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Yue and Kero had been searching for Sakura for the last hour. They had heard her call them and she sounded desperate for help. They had called her name several times hoping she would hear them. They couldn't sense her aura anymore and that had Yue worried. He would never admit it, but he had come attached to his mistress, almost as much as his other half Yukito was. Kero was searching the ground, while Yue got the air. Yue was better suited for flying in this weather. His icy gray eyes scanned the trees looking for any movement. He saw a flash of white running through the woods. He called for Kero and both of them flew toward the moving figure. It was the Mirror card.

Before either of them could ask why she was there, she said out of breath from running," Thank God, I found you guys. Sakura is hurt, Fiery is tending to her and…"

She was interrupted by Keroberos and Yue, who had started running as fast as they could toward the direction that Mirror came from.

Mirror dashed in front of them, as so to lead them to her. They arrived at where Sakura was and the sight of her tore them apart. Sakura was shaking like a leaf, despite the half-lit fires around her. Fiery was kneeling at her side, so that Sakura would be warmer. Fiery looked up and noticed Keroberos & Yue. She smiled, a thing that the card never did, and put out the fires and stepped away. Sakura looked at Fiery, her emerald eyes questioning why she had stepped away from her and put out the fires. For the first time she noticed Kero and Yue. She ran over to them and threw her hands around Kero's neck in joy of seeing a friendly face. She pulled away and flung herself at Yue, tears streaming down her face, either from happiness or sadness, they weren't sure. Yue was surprised. No one had ever touched him, neither less hugged him. He hugged her back, relieved that his mistress was alive. This went on for several minutes. Kero, silently fumed. She was looking to Yue for comfort and not him, her best friend. He reminded himself that it was nothing personal, it was just that Yue was Yukito. But it still hurt. In his mind, he cursed Clow for arranging that Yue's other half would be someone that Sakura would love. But there were more important things to worry about.

"Sakura, we need to know what happened," Kero said, feeling guilty for making her tell them what had happened that had shaken her up so bad. Sakura released her grip on Yue's neck and poured out the whole story. How Syaoran had betrayed her. How Meilin and him tried to kill her. How the strange force had saved her from the sword. How someone blocked the death beam and her getting away. She was to the part where she broke the rope when Yue interrupted, "Sorry mistress, but look at the rope around your wrists."

For the first time, Sakura looked at the rope. The rope was wrapped around both her wrists, the piece that had connected them broke. She looked at the rope close up, and noticed that the rope looked like it was cut by some sort of knife. She realized that the girl had cut them, sending her back into tears.

"Are you okay? Why are you crying?" asked Kero, worried about her.

"No, I'm not okay," said Sakura. She took a deep breath and started where she had left off in her story. She told them how she escaped and hid on a tree. How a force pretended to be her and got Syaoran & Meilin away from her. She got to the part with the girl sacrificing herself to save her, when she found that she couldn't talk. Her mouth had stopped working. Kero walked over to her and nuzzled her leg.

"You don't have to tell us," Kero said trying to comfort her.

"Syaoran…he lit the body on fire and just watched it burn," Sakura sobbed out," and the worst part that he thought he was doing it to me." And Sakura completely broke down,

Yue hugged her and she burrowed her head in his robes. He held her, rocking her back and forth until she stopped crying. He looked down at the precious bundle in his arms. Sakura had fallen asleep, a small strand of drool running at the corner of her mouth. He shifted her so that she was lying in his arms and turned to Kero.

"We should spilt up. I'll bring Sakura to her house, and you stay here," Yue said.

"Why do I have to stay here," whined Kero.

"I can still sense Syaoran's presence. He's still here. One of us has to get even with him. Also, we have to check the body of the person that Syaoran killed. Something isn't right. No person would get themself killed to save someone's life they didn't even know. Also the girl looked like Sakura. She was able to fool Syaoran & Meilin, 2 of the people that know Sakura the best. Don't you think that's kind of odd?"

"But why do I have to go after Syaoran. Sure, I would love to hear him whimper in pain as I bite him, see him scream as he is burned by my..," Kero shut up after seeing the glare that Yue was giving him. Kero continued," But why can't you do it?"

Yue looked down at Sakura's sleeping form. Kero realized if Yue went he would have to move Sakura, risking that she might wake up.

"I'll do it," Kero quickly answered, and flew off in search for Meilin and Syaoran. Yue watched Kero fly off into the distance and he took off and headed toward Sakura's house.

He was mad at himself for ever helping Syaoran tell his feelings for Sakura. He somewhat wanted to switch jobs with Kero, because he, like Kero, wanted to see Syaoran & Meilin at his mercy. But, what he was doing was important. Sakura's family and friends needed to know what happened. Yue inwardly smiled. Touya was going to be happy about being right about Syaoran. That would be after Touya tracked him down and beat him to a bloody pulp. Yue spotted Sakura's yellow house from above and flew down. Touya was on the doorstep pacing, worried sick about his sister. Touya looked up and noticed Yue walking toward him with a big bundle in his hands. Sakura. He rushed over to her and looked at his little monster. She was peacefully sleeping, but he noticed her tear-stained face and the assorted cuts over her body. Touya opened the door because Yue couldn't, and they walked into the living room. Tomoyo and Fujitaka were in there waiting. They rushed over to Sakura. Noticing that she was asleep, they sat back down on the couch and Yue brought her upstairs to her room. He lightly placed her on her bed and tucked her into the covers. Yue walked back down the stair and went back into the living room.

"What happened?" asked Tomoyo." Is she okay?"

Yue sighed and began to tell everything that Sakura had told him before her going to asleep. Everybody was silent with the exception of Touya, who was muttering curses and threats at Syaoran & Meilin under his breath. He finished up the story, ending with the girl's death and Kero now searching for them. Yue looked around at everybody's faces. Tomoyo looked like she was in shock, Touya looked like he was going to go out and kill somebody, and Fugitaka looked like he wasn't surprised at what happened. Yue assumed that Fugitaka, being half of Clow's recarnation would have had some sort of vision about this.

Tomoyo was the first to speak." But why did he do that? I thought he loved her."

"He loves her, but he loves the clan more. The clan purposely sent him here to get the cards. He had to do it," said Fugitaka, not giving Yue a chance to speak.

"Err…how dare he hurt my Sakura-chan," Tomoyo said, her disgust for Syaoran showing through her voice. As long as Touya had known Tomoyo, he had never seen her angry. She reminded him of a mother bear whose cubs were threatened. Touya snapped out of his thoughts and listened to the questions Tomoyo & his dad were firing at Yue. He was itching to stand up and leave and find Syaoran and kick his ass for hurting Sakura, but he knew he couldn't. He had a feeling his gut that Yue & Dad would not allow him. He leaned back in the couch and waited for Kero to show up with news.

**********************************************************************************************

Two houses down the road on the roof stood a teenage girl who was peering into the Kinomoto house watching everything that was happening. The storm was still raging, but it seemed not to be affecting her. The rain would directly hit her, but she was dry from head to toe. A small smile played on the girl's lips as she watched the festivities from her rooftop perch.

She would have loved to stay, but she had work yet to get done tonight. She walked to the other side of the roof, her brown pigtails swinging in the wind. She nimbly slid off the roof onto the stacked trashcans, being careful not to make a sound. She landed on the ground and headed downtown where the apartments and shops were located.

*************************************************************************************************

Kerberos was getting mad. He had been searching for Syaoran, what seemed to be forever. He was in the last section of the park. After going through this part, he just had to check the body of "Sakura" and he got to leave. He walked around, sniffing the air for Syaoran's scent or Meilin's. He picked up a scent and he flew into the air to see what it was. It was Syaoran & Meilin. Kero, not being able to contain himself, let out a mighty roar. The roar echoed all over the park, alerting all of his presence.

**************************************************************************************

Syaoran looked up. He could have sworn that he heard a roar from off in the distance.

"It's nothing Syaoran. Come on, we need to get back to searching for the key," said Meilin, trying to persuade him to stop worrying.

Syaoran wanted to stop wondering about what the roar was, but as the moments passed, his worry only increased. He looked up and saw something that chilled his blood. Kerberos. Kero was flying towards them and the look in his eyes made him go weak in the knees. Kerberos was out for blood. Syaoran grabbed Meilin's hand and they took off towards the stone wall that bordered the road, Kero at their heels. Syaoran sent out waves of thunder, fire, wind, and water at Kero trying to slow him down and block the fireballs that Kero shot out. A fireball went flying past Meilin's shoulder, almost setting her on fire. They were nearing the stone wall. Syaoran easily jumped over it and helped Meilin get over it. They ran across the busy 4 lane street, sending cars skidding to a stop. Kero tried to follow them, but it was no use. The street was too crowded with people. The risk was too great of him being seen. He growled in annoyance and headed toward the spot where Sakura said the girl had fallen.

Syaoran & Meilin kept on running. They were pretty sure that Kero wasn't following them, but still. Better safe then sorry. They reached Syaoran's apartment and they ran in, slamming the door. Both of them collapsed into the couch, gasping for breath.

"So did you do it?" called a voice from inside the kitchen.

Syaoran remained silent.

"Hold on for a second. I want to hear this in person." A tall woman, with the same intense eyes as Syaoran, walked out of the kitchen, her long freshly showered brown hair swinging behind her.

"So what happened?"

Syaoran hung his head down in shame. Li Lerae looked at her youngest son in worry. She hadn't expected him to be this down. She knew that he was attached to Sakura, but she had assumed it was just an act. Obviously it wasn't.

She turned to Meilin who was faring slightly better then Syaoran." What happened?"

As Meilin told the events of the night, Syaoran tried to drown out their voices. He wished with his entire heart that this was a dream, some sort of story that Eriol would make up, and after it was done, he could see Sakura's terrified face. She was so cute when that happened. But it wasn't. If he didn't listen, in some respects, it wasn't real.

"Syaoran…Syaoran…Syaoran," said Lerae, trying to snap him out of his thoughts, her voice rising with every time she called his name.

Syaoran looked up his mom, his face red from having his hands pressed up against it. "Yeah."

"What happened with the key? Did you get it before Kerberos showed up?"

"No, when we killed Sakura, the key wasn't on her. We searched the entire park. It wasn't there," Syaoran said, his voice cracking in pain.

"Are you sure."

"Yeah."

A loud boom of thunder sent everybody jumping. Lightning flashed across the sky, like some little kid had taken a yellow crayon and scribbled over a black piece of paper.

Lerae looked up at the skies in worry. "We have to get out of here fast."

Syaoran & Meilin looked at her. Lerae looked tense like she was expecting something to happen.

"Mom, if you're worried about Kerberos and Yue showing up, you have no reason to be. Me and you are powerful enough to take them down," Syaoran said more confidently then he really was. Inside he was shaking at the thought of facing Kero & Yue.

"It's not them I'm worried about," said Lerae staring out of the window. "It's another force that is in this area."

"What do you mean?" Syaoran looked at his mother trying to figure out what she meant by that. The only other magical force he knew of in this area was Sakura's dad and he didn't know much about magic yet.

"It doesn't concern you. Go upstairs and pack your stuff. Our flight leaves at 5:30."

"We're not moving until you tell us what you mean," said Meilin, stubbornly folding her hands across her chest.

Lerae sighed and walked over to the couch. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before beginning.

" You 2 were never supposed to come here to get the cards. Fugitaka found the clow book many years before Sakura opened it. The clan wanted the book and so the Elders would send people to retrieve the book from the house. All the people who tried to get the book were killed before they could enter the house. Someone or something was killing them. At that time Syaoran, you were being trained about the cards because you were going to be the master of them."

Lerae took a long breath and continued. " The elders got a better idea. Why not kill Sakura? If she is dead then we'll have no time limit to get the cards. They sent the best sorcerers the clan had. There were 5 of them. When they got within a block of the Kinomoto house, they were attacked by a white tiger with a strange diamond shape between its eyes. They used a death spell on it. The spell hit it but it didn't even faze it. The sorcerers attacked it, but the tiger was more powerful then they were combined. The tiger slayed them all except for 1. The tiger created a spell to transport him back to Hong Kong. We tried to heal him, but the tiger knew what it was doing. With the effect of the spells the tiger put on him and the bites and cuts that the tiger inflected, the guy died. Before the guy died, he handed me a note that the tiger had given him before he was transported there. It read:

__

To the Li clan

Anyone of you who tries to get the cards or tries to hurt Sakura will die by my hand. Accept the fact that Sakura is destined to be their master. I will protect her at all costs.

The note was signed by a pawprint. Syaoran, that guy that died. He was your father."

Lerae started sobbing. Meilin hugged her and whispered soothing stuff into her ear. Syaoran sat there emotionless.

Lerae broke the hug and looked out at the moon." Well, the tiger kept its promise. We sent over 50 people to try to get the cards somehow. Almost all were killed, the rest of them got somehow paralyzed so they could never fight again. You 2 are the only ones that have ever come here for the purpose of getting the cards that haven't been hurt by it. The tiger has never gone back on its word. We need to get out of here now," she said urgently.

Syaoran stood up and headed towards the stairs then stopped." But we didn't get the cards though, "he said.

"No, you didn't. But you succeeded in killing Sakura."

Syaoran ran upstairs and started packing, Meilin at his heels. What Lerae had said somewhat scared them. Downstairs, Lerae looked around making sure that she wasn't missing anything. She had been spending the last week or so here in Syaoran's apartment to help him prepare for tonight. She had packed her bags earlier because the clan had told her to get out of Japan as soon as possible. She did a quick scan of the apartment. Yep, everything was packed. She turned around to face the glass sliding door that opened up to the balcony when she saw something that caught her heart in her throat. There on the balcony sat a black and white stripped tiger with 2 huge wings stretching out from its back. In between its misty eyes was a huge red diamond shaped marking. The tiger, noticing her scared face, said," You really thought that I wouldn't come, didn't ya."

Lerae looked at the tiger in shock that it spoke. The voice sounded somewhat like a girl. She could have sworn that the tiger was grinning at her, which only made her angrier. She shot out lightning at the tiger, which the tiger just lazily blinked at and shot out some sort of beam to counter it.

"If you want to hurt me, you have to be a lot faster then that," pointed out the tiger.

"What are you doing here? First you take away from my husband, now my son. How dare you," hissed Lerae, her voice dripping with venom.

"One, I didn't take your husband away from you. He brought his own death upon himself. And second, who said I was going to kill Syaoran & Meilin."

"So you're going to torture them." Lerae was getting angrier as the minutes passed. She so badly wanted to hurt the tiger, but she could see the way the tiger's eyes followed her movements. Before she could even raise her finger to do a spell, the tiger would know.

The tiger laughed at her stupidly, but then turned serious. "Did I say that I was going to hurt them? I didn't. I would normally kill them for what they did, but I have my orders. They haven't out-lived their purpose yet."

"Then why are you here?" asked Lerae. She was scared thinking maybe that the tiger had come for her.

"No, I didn't come for you so you can stop worrying. I have a message for you. I am sparing Syaoran's & Meilin's lives for now. If they come back here ever to get the cards or for other reason involving that, the deal is off. I will kill them." The tiger retracted its claws to prove its point.

Lerae looked at the tiger in wonder. The tiger had almost no regard for human life. It seemed to her that the tiger liked to play God, deciding who lived and who died.

"You're a cold-blooded murderer."

"Why's that." The tiger looked at her with its eyelids half-closed giving it a look of superiority.

"You kill innocent people like it's a sport. Why us, why do you hate the Li clan?"

"The people that I've killed aren't innocent. They were either out to kill Sakura or me. It's either them or me and it ends up as them," said the tiger somewhat proudly.

"For your second question," the tiger continued," I don't hate the clan. It's just that the clan hasn't accepted that the cards don't belong to them just because of blood right."

Lerae heard a bump from behind her and she turned around. Syaoran stood on the 2nd stair from the top, his hands full with his belongings.

"Mom, who are you talking to? And why is the balcony door open?" asked Syaoran.

Lerae turned around but the tiger wasn't there anymore

"I was talking to myself, Syaoran. Are we ready to leave?"

"Yeah."

**************************************************************************************************

Kero walked around the southern end of the park, looking for the spot that Sakura had described to him where the girl had sacrificed herself. He located the spot across from the spot he just was. He looked at the spot by the tree and what he saw amazed him.

You all now what you have to do. Review. I'll try to update my story every week. But that will only be if I know people are reading it. If you have any questions, put them in your reviews and I'll answer them next time I update.


	3. Aftermath

Diophantus (sometimes called father of algebra) (fl 

"So let me get this straight. You visited the tree, and there was nothing. No body, no blood, no burn marks, nothing," said Yue flabbergasted.

They were standing on Sakura's rooftop. The storm had finally stopped and Kero had just gotten back from the park and was in the process of telling Yue what happened.

"From what Sakura told us, there should be blood on the tree from the gash on the girl's head and burn marks on the ground. But when I looked at it, the ground looked normal like nothing happened tonight. Supposedly the girl burned to death, but there is no body or any ashs, "Kero said just as confused about what this all meant.

"Maybe Syaoran took the body or ashes with him?"

"Nah, he wasn't carrying anything with him except his sword."

"Maybe the girl didn't die."

"What do you mean? You didn't see the look on Syaoran's face when he saw me. He definitely killed her."

Yue sighed, his normally emotionless face looking worried." Maybe Syaoran thought she was dead, but she really wasn't. Strange things have happened tonight. I wouldn't be surprised if .."

"You're nuts. No one can survive that kind of fire," interrupted Kero.

Yue rolled his eyes and flew off the roof. He stopped when he was about even with Sakura's bedroom window. He slowly opened her window, trying not to make it creak.

"What are you doing," hissed Kero, coming up behind Yue.

"Since you're not open to ideas about what happened, I was going to get the cards and do a reading."

Yue made his wings disappear and he walked into Sakura's room. He opened the dresser drawer that held the Clow book. He grabbed the book and leapt out the window. Kero closed the window and they sat down on the roof. Yue drew out 5 cards and put them in a diamond shape. He flipped the first card, Mirror.

"This is exactly how it was last night," Kero remarked.

Yue turned to look at him." What do you mean, "he asked coldly.

"You see, Sakura has been having this dream ever since the capture of the Void card. I did a reading on it last night."

"What was the dream about?"

"The Void card killed Syaoran and a girl looking like Sakura appeared. She said how people never changed and said neither had Syaoran. The girl disappeared and Syaoran awoke from the dead. He then killed Sakura. Why do you want to know?"

"Why do I want to know? That dream is exactly what happened tonight in the park. If you had told me about it in the first place, the things that took place tonight would have never happened," yelled Yue furious.

"Shhhh, keep it down. Remember people are sleeping. I didn't think it was important at the time," whispered Kero. Yue seriously needed to chill out.

"How could it not be important. Every dream that Sakura has ever had told something about the future and what was to come." Yue still wasn't calming down.

"Ok, I'm sorry. But do you think that the dream and tonight's events are somehow connected?"

Yue looked up at the moon in thought. He always thought his clearest when he just stared at it. "Yes," he finally answered," they are"

He turned back towards Kero. " The dream had Syaoran killing Sakura just like what happened tonight except Sakura lived. A person who looked like Sakura warned her about him in the dream and some sort of force saved her tonight from him. There are too many things that are alike."

What Yue had said had made perfect sense to Kero. He thought about the results of his reading last night. Mirror, Power, Windy, Change, and Twin. They still didn't make any sense to him. "Do you think maybe the girl in the dream was the force protecting Sakura?"

"She might be or she could be the girl who died. Either would make sense."

Kero sat down on his haunches, Yue's words echoing through his head." Yue, I'm beat. I'm going to get some sleep. We can think about it better in the morning."

Yue was disappointed but he too was tired. He jumped into the air and flew off towards Yukito's house.

Kero transformed into his stuffed animal form and began to pick up the cards lying on the roof.

A shrill sound came from inside the house. It was the phone. Kero dropped the cards and flew into the house and grabbed the phone before it could wake anyone.

"Hello."

"Hey, Kero. This is Suppi."

"Hey, why are you calling. Couldn't you have done it in the morning."

"Eriol was sensing that something was wrong where you are. Is everything okay?"

"No," and Kero started telling him everything.

Outside stood a figure dressed head to toe in black. She watched Kero talking to Suppi, who wasn't paying any attention to the roof where the cards lied. Suppi was doing his job well. Oh course Eriol knew what happened. She jumped onto the roof and shined her flashlight over the cards that were still in the diamond. Mirror, Dream, Void, Shield, and Illusion. She grinned, they described the events and her connection to them perfectly. She whirled around, hearing a noise, shining her light at the figure that had been trying to sneak up behind her. The light reflected off the boy's glasses, leaving him temporary blind. Noticing who the guy was, she moved the flashlight away from him and went back to putting the cards back the way Kero left them. 

"Why are you here?" asked the guy, his voice much deeper and older sounding then he actually was.

"I could ask you the same thing, "the girl replied, not taking her eyes off the cards.

The guy chuckled lightly. He walked up next to the girl and sat down next to her.

"You almost got caught tonight. What the hell were you thinking by drawing out Syaoran & Meilin right under Sakura's nose," the guy whispered angrily, his normally blue twinkling eyes turning cold.

Before the girl could defend herself, he started up again. "And why did you pretend to die. I told you not to interfere. You were lucky that Sakura and the others are complete idiots. They're starting figure out who you are."

"Look, I'm really sorry, but he was going to kill her. What else was I supposed to do. Let her die."

The guy just sat there, making the girl really uncomfortable. She ran her hand through her reddish hair in nervousness. 

"No, you weren't supposed to let her die. I'm sorry for yelling at you. You were just doing your job. But, you be a little bit less obvious."

There was a moment of silence.

"There is going to be a next time, isn't there." The girl looked at the shingles on the roof sad.

"Yeah."

They were silent for awhile just listening to the crickets chirp.

"Oh, by the way, next time this happens, don't lose control your temper and make it storm. Fujitaka might remember something about Clow, and we can't have him knowing too much, "the guy added. 

Just then, they heard the humming of wings flapping from below them. Kero had gotten off the phone with Suppi and was heading up to get the cards. The girl jumped from where she sat, easily sailing 50 feet onto the next rooftop. The guy slid off the roof onto the ground and hid in the bushes. Kero landed on the roof and looked around. He could have swore that he had saw something. It was properly nothing. He grabbed the cards and flew into Sakura's room falling immediately asleep.

The guy emerged from the bushes and headed off toward his house. He wasn't going to stick around the house and get worried about getting caught. The girl watched him go and headed off in the direction that he had gone in.

Sakura sat on a stonewall, surrounded in the falling petals of the Sakura trees. Her head was burrowed onto her knees, which she had drawn up to her chest. She had been crying. Syaoran had tried to kill her. Her own boyfriend. He had also killed an innocent bystander in the process of trying to get to her. She hugged her knees, rocking back and forth, as tears spilled out of her eyes. Someone behind her handed her a tissue, which she gladly took. She blew her nose and looked at the person who stood beside her. It was the same girl who had been haunting her dreams for weeks, the gray-eyed version of herself.

"Are you okay," asked the girl concerned about her double.

Sakura shook her head no. The girl hugged her and held her as she sobbed. Sakura relized that she had made the back of the girl's black halter top soaked. "I'm sorry," she apologized.

"Don't be, "replied the girl breaking the hug and handing Sakura another tissue to dry her eyes with.

"You're better off without him," remarked the girl.

Sakura looked at her strangely. How was it that the girl always knew what she was thinking.

The girl smirked, reading Sakura's thoughts. "If you want to talk, I'm here to listen. "The girl shrugged.

"The girl who died, who was she?" asked Sakura.

"I can't answer that."

"You know, don't you."

"Yeah." The girl gave her an apologetic look.

"Can you answer my other question? Why did the girl die?" asked Sakura.

"What do you mean."

"Why does someone who doesn't know me, gets themselves killed so that Syaoran thinks I'm dead?"

"She wanted you to live life to its fullest. You don't know her, but she knows you very well. She doesn't fear dieing."

Sakura thought about what the mirror image had just said. There was something wrong with what she just heard, but she couldn't figure out what it was. The girl smirked, she had purposely made that mistake so that Sakura maybe would pick up on something. Sakura looked her straight in the eye." The girl isn't dead, is she," said Sakura.

The girl's smirk changed into a sly smile and she walked away.

"Hey, aren't you going to tell me if I'm right or not," shouted Sakura.

"You're smart, figure it out for yourself," yelled back the girl, not looking back.

Sakura watched the girl walk into the sunrise and she slumped back down on the wall. Was the girl dead or not? She was getting sick of crying and dwelling on Syaoran and his choices. She stood up and headed down the brick road. The sun shown down on the path making it look like a gateway to heaven. She relaxed feeling the warm sun on her back, letting her guard down. Something grabbed her from behind, pushing her to the ground. She struggled, trying to get away, but whatever was holding down was a lot stronger then her. The thing grabbed her wrists, pushing her nose into the dirt. The person turned her around so that she was lying on her back facing him. It was Syaoran, except he was 3 or 4 years older then he was now. He had greatly matured, his body looking like it was chiseled out of wood from all the training he had done. She stared at him the way someone would look at a candy bar after not eating for a week. Syaoran pulled her to her feet and punched her sending her back to the ground. Sakura clutched her face as Syaoran advanced on her.

"Stop, please stop, "she could hear herself shout. He kept on advancing on her and hit her. Again and again. She yelled for him to stop, but he wouldn't.

"Sakura..Sakura," yelled a voice urgently. She felt something wet hit her cheek and she woke up with a start. Kero stood above her, an empty cup raised. He dropped the cup and flew down to be level with Sakura's shoulder.

"Are you okay?" asked Kero.

Sakura looked at where she was lying. She was on the floor with her sheets wrapped around, half-strangling her. She looked at her alarm clock, 3:00 

"Yeah, it was just a bad dream."

Sakura stood up and climbed back in bed. Kero helped her pick up her blankets and tucked her in.

" Tell me your dream tomorrow. You need your sleep. Night." Kero floated over to his drawer and collapsed onto his bed. Several minutes later, Sakura could hear his rhythmic snoring. She turned over and closed her eyes, but sleep would not come. She got out of her bed and put on her old beat-up hamster slippers. She tiptoed down the stairs and plopped down on the couch. Her hand found the remote control from inside the rubble on the coffee table and she turned on the tv. She flipped through the channels. Wrestling, news, talkshows, more news. She finally found the channel she was looking for, the cartoon channel. She lay back relaxed as she watched Bugs & Daffy.

Syaoran was aimlessly walking down an abandoned street. He didn't know why he was there. He had heard a voice calling him, beckoning him to come to her and like a fool, he had come. The street was pitch-black, the row of streetlights blown out. He wasn't watching where he was walking and he found himself looking at a yellow house with its windows trimmed in white. Sakura's house. He turned immediately around heading back toward the road, but he had already been spotted. Touya ran out of the house seeing Syaoran. It was time to get his revenge on him for what he had done to her. Syaoran ran as fast as he could down the street. He spotted a dead-end alley that was hidden in the shadows. He ran into it and ducked so he couldn't be seen. Touya ran right past the alley. Syaoran took a deep breath. He was so close to getting caught. He stood up and using the wall as his guide walked down the alley. He came to the wall that made it a dead end. He put his back to the wall and stressed his senses listening for Touya. He couldn't hear anything. He took a step forward and stopped. Something or someone was watching him. He slowly turned around. On the wall stood a girl dressed entirely in white. The dress hugged every curve of her petite body, her auburn hair blowing in the wind. A light shown down on her, only illuminating her. He swore that he was looking at an angel. He looked closer, his eyes half blinded by the light. It was Sakura. She rose her staff threateningly into the air. He turned around, preparing to run. Within 6 feet of him stood another girl. She was an exact mirror image of Sakura, except for the clothes. She wore a black halter-top, exposing her tan stomach, with a pair of low raising black jeans. The girl stared at him, her dark eyes glinting in the light dangerously. She drew a wooden staff with a ruby embedded onto the end of it from behind her back. The ruby started glowing and the dark Sakura rose it into the air. She brought it down sending a power beam at him. Syaoran screamed.

Syaoran woke up with a start, sweat drenching his entire body. People were staring at him like he was some psycho. He realized that he had been screaming out-loud. He checked his watch, 5:20. He was in the airport waiting room waiting for his flight. He must have dozed off. "Syaoran, come on. The planes waiting for us," called Meilin.

Syaoran stood up from the hard plastic chair and walked to the boarding area. He was still shaken up by the dream he had just had. He looked over at Meilin who was standing 2 people behind him. She looked calm and collected, but he noticed her red eyes and her tear-stained face. She was feeling as bad as he was. The airplane attendant tapped him on the shoulder, motioning for his ticket. He handed the ticket to her and walked onto the plane.

A red orb rose onto the horizon, welcoming the new day. Sakura woke up to the sweet smell of pancakes and maple syrup. She raced out to the kitchen where Touya, Fujitaka, and Kero were stuffing their faces with food. 

She grabbed the last pancakes in the bowl and set them on her plate, loading them up with butter and syrup.

"Sleep well, Sakura?" asked Touya knowingly.

"Yeah," said Sakura, not knowing that Touya had heard her tossing and turning.

They finished their meal in silence and went about their daily chores. Sakura went upstairs to her room and got out her math homework that she had been putting off all weekend. She was halfway through the 1st problem when a yellow blurb zoomed in front of her eyes saying, "So what was your dream about last night."

Sakura screamed and fell off the bed. "Never do that again, Kero. You almost gave me a heart attack," she scolded.

The small yellow guardian beast floated down to her. He looked at her, silently apologizing for what he had done.

"Why do you want to know my dream?" asked Sakura.

"I need to know if that girl & Syaoran were in your dream again. Yùè and me were thinking that the girl and the dream somehow might relate to one another. 

Sakura explained the dream to him the best she could." So what do you think?" she asked finishing up her story.

"Hmmm, the girl is connected to it somehow. She is the one who died or the force that was protecting you. I have no clue why Syaoran was in the dream. He wouldn't dare to do anything now, "Kero reasoned

Just then, Sakura's hand-held pink phone rang. She groaned, searching for it in the messy room. She found it under a pile of clothes.

"Hello, it's me, Tomoyo."

"Oh, hi. Why are you calling."

"I just got back from Syaoran's apartment."

"And," Sakura was getting nervous about what Tomoyo was going to say.

"His apartment was empty. There was no sign that anyone ever lived there. I snooped around and I found a one-way ticket to Hong Kong for a flight last night. Supposedly Syaoran was going to get the cards and run.

"O."

Sakura heard the ring of the doorbell from down-stairs. Who would be coming to see them?

"Tomoyo, I have to go. The door bell is ringing."

"Okay, bye."

"Bye," and Sakura hit the button on the phone ending their conversation. She rushed downstairs and opened the front door. There on her porch step stood Eriol, Nakura, and Suppi.

She rushed over to them, giving them big hugs, and invited them in.

"Sakura, who's at the door," said Touya walking from his bedroom. He had only a pair of sweatpants on and a towel draped around his neck, for he had just got out of the shower.

Nakura's jaw literally hit the floor at the sight of him. She quickly recovered and launched herself around Touya's neck. Sakura could hear Touya's groan of seeing Nakura again, and she chuckled.

"I see nothing has changed since we were last here," said Eriol slightly smirking at the site of Nakura & Touya.

He then turned his gaze to Sakura. "How are you holding up."

Sakura gave him a confused look.

Eriol explained," I heard about what happened last night. We sensed something was happening and Suppi called Kero last night to see what was happening."

"Oh…I'm doing fine." Sakura jogged to the stairs and shouted," Kero, why didn't you tell me that Suppi called last night."

Kero came flying down the banister, almost falling on the ground. "You were sleeping. I didn't want to wake you," he said apologetically.

Kero noticed the small crowd around the door.

Hey guys, how'd you guys get here so fast? You called around 2:00 and you were still in England. It's about 10:00 now. No flight could have gotten you here that fast."

Eriol and his guardians sweat-dropped. They weren't prepared to answer that and Eriol really didn't want to lie to Sakura. Kero, noticing their uneasy faces said," You guys used magic, didn't you. That's so cool. Can you teach me how to do it?"

Eriol sighed a breath of relief." Yes that's what we did, and you know I can't teach you." Truthfully they had done no such thing. Eriol didn't the power to. They had been in Tomeda for the past 2 days waiting for Syaoran to make his move.

Fugitaka came into the room and invited them into the living room where they talked about everything under the sun except what happened last night. Eriol took Sakura off separate to the others, seeing that Sakura had to say something private to him.

"Eriol, do you know anything about a girl who looks exactly like me?" she asked.

Eriol decided to play dumb, "what do you mean," very well knowing what she meant.

"Last night a girl died that looked like me, I keep having dreams about someone who looks like me, and I need to know if you have any clue who she is or what her purpose is?"

Eriol shrugged his shoulders, pretending not to know a thing. He really wasn't lying, he was just giving her the impression that he didn't know anything.

"You're no help," she muttered, looking at the ground.

"Hey, where's Kaho." Sakura snapped her head up.

"She couldn't leave England. She had something she had to do."

"O."

There was a moment of silence.

"Can you promise me something? Will you still here in Tomeda, just for awhile. I don't think this whole mess is over yet, and I would really like you to be here to help me out if it does."

Eriol took Sakura's hand." I promise," he whispered.

Later that night Eriol sat in his study staring at the smoldering ashes of the fire, like they were the most significant thing in the world. He sat in his red velvet lined chair, staff in hand, a intense expression on his face. He spun his staff in the direction of the fire, eventually sending it blazing. 3 words of an ancient language escaped his mouth, calling the spell alive. The fire died down and the spell was over, but it had achieved its purpose. He smiled, Nakura had rightfully named the chair he sat in the throne of Evilness. He leaned back, taking in the wonderful scent of burnt paper. Spinel walked in the room his large paws banging on the ground. 

"She is here, master," the butter-fly winged panther said.

Eriol just stared at the wall, "Send her in."

A girl walked into the room, not making a sound. She cleared her throat to announce her arrival." You called," she said partly annoyed.

Eriol looked at the figure in front of him. Mid-back auburn hair floated around her face, slightly blown back from the wind outdoors. His glassy blue eyes did a complete over-view of her. She was a skinny but extremely muscular girl of medium height. He smiled to himself, he had done his job well of making her look like Sakura. Too bad Clow had created her, she was gorgeous in his opinion. It didn't help that she was wearing a unbuttoned long-sleeved plaid jacket over a white sports bra with blue jean shorts that came about mid-thigh.

"When you're done giving me a mental dress down, can you please tell me why you called? I was in the middle of something," complained the girl.

Eriol slightly blushed, she knew him well. " And what that be?"

Her pale gray eyes smiled mischievously. "Just getting even with some dude that got on my nerves last night when I was working."

She was a bartender that worked in an over-crowed bar, but he knew that wasn't what she was talking about.

"You mean Syaoran."

She nodded," So what did you want to tell me?" trying to get him off the topic.

"We have a change of plan. Sakura asked me to stay here in Tomeda district for a little while, until things settle down."

"And this affects me how?"

"We'll be able to protect her, but I need you to do some stuff for me. I need you to make sure that Syaoran and the other members of the Li clan don't find out about Sakura being alive from Hong Kong. If they come here, I need you to make sure you will not to interfere if they come close to finding her."

"Why can't I interfere. Sakura deserves to live her life in peace from the stupid Li clan." The girl started pacing, wearing a look of complete hatred at the clan.

"I have my reasons."

The girl sighed, deciding to take his word about it. " Do you still want to me protect her from the clan's attacks if they come here?"

"Yeah, sure, I won't want to deprive you of your fun."

The girl smirked and headed toward the door then stopped. "Is Kaho coming here to stay with you while you're here?" she asked.

"Yeah."

The girl let out a low growl, just loud enough to make sure he heard.

"Why do you hate her so much, Ray. She hasn't done anything to you."

" You know my reasons," said Ray shrugging and she swaggered slightly out of the room.

Eriol watched her leave and turned around to face the papers that he needed tomorrow to enter school.

Syaoran Li walked up the yellow brick path that led up to the Li mansion. He had never felt so happy to see his house. He unlatched the gate, went through the door, and went up to his old room to get some sleep. Lerae watched her son leave and walked to a room on the bottom floor that was sectioned off from the others. She knocked on the door and walked in. 7 people looked up at her from the long table at which they sat. They were the Elders, the leaders of the clan. When Syaoran grew of age, he would rule not them. 

"So how did it go," asked the bushy-eyebrow elder at the front of the table.

Lerae sighed," They killed the girl, but they didn't get the key or the cards."

"How is that possible," demanded the youngest of all the elders who sat at the far end.

"After they killed her, they searched the body. No key, no cards. They got interrupted searching for them by Kerberos, and they had to run."

" If Syaoran can't do that simple task, maybe he doesn't deserve to be the head of the clan," muttered the youngest elder.

It was common knowledge that Brad, being the powerfulest sorcerer in the clan, should be the one that ruled. He hated Syaoran with passion because he would be the second choice if Syaoran didn't become ruler.

"Shut your mouth, it wasn't their fault. Something intervened tonight to make sure Sakura had a chance to run and get rid of the cards if we found her," scolded Lerae.

"Was it the tiger?" asked the wisest and fairest of all the elders, Ty.

Before Lerae could answer the questions, the only other lady in the room blurted out," Oh, course it was. That creature hates us with almost an unlimited amount of passion. It has shown a tendency of protecting the cards and their mistress. We've all seen and heard what it can do, and it is definitely capable of doing whatever it did."

Lerae kept silent. For some reason, she didn't want to tell of her conversation with the tiger. She decided just to let everyone take Mari's suggestion. It was pretty close to the truth.

"This settles it. The tiger is going to have to die. It's killed too many of our own. It's too dangerous. We need to get the cards and the clan can take down Yue & Kerberos and the others that had been helping her. The only one we can't defeat is the tiger. I suggest we go out in a few weeks, when they aren't expecting us and do a 2-point operation. One group tries to get the cards, the other kills the tiger, "said Will, a long time friend of Brad.

Lerae shook her head no in disgust." You can't go do the mission Brad and Willy. One you're needed here and second, if you succeeds in getting the cards, which I highly doubt, that would guarantee you as being head of the clan," she yelled.

"Err.." Everyone looked at the end of the table where one of the elders sat. His name was Aubrey. He was extremely shy and rarely ever spoke unless it was of some importance. When he talked everyone would take notice because he was wise and somewhat predict what might happen.

Aubrey's small soft voice echoed around the chamber." Lerae's right. It's not our job as the elders to go out and do that kind of stuff. Syaoran is the rightful heir to the head of the clan. If you go through with the mission, I can almost guarantee that you will fail. The cards belong to Sakura and we should accept that fact. The tiger is strong, and knows us personally. Our attacks, our abilities, our weakness, it knows them all. We shouldn't think of hurting the tiger, we should try to get it to become an ally. It would be useful in the future."

All members with the exception of Lerae and Aubrey laughed their heads off. The idea that the tiger could be an ally. The idea that the cards didn't belong to them. The idea they weren't going to get the cards. Aubrey hung his head in shame. He had failed. Lerae looked at him in amazement. What he had said made sense. She didn't agree with it, but still, it was smart. The words of the tiger echoed throughout her mind. " The cards don't belong to you just because of blood right." Aubrey was speaking in a way for the tiger.

"So let's go do it," yelled Brad and he walked out of the room, properly going to make plans for the attack that would make him leader of the clan.


	4. Truth

Sakura skated down the street, humming to herself. She had just gotten out of school and she had no homework. She was so happy, she had gotten a 88 on her math test that she had thought she had failed.

"Hey Sakura, wait up," shouted out a guy from behind her.

She stopped and spun around. Eriol was running towards her, out of breath. Since the day that Syaoran had attempted to kill her, Eriol had stuck around Tomeda. They were now 15 and in 9th grade. School had started a few days ago and it was the first year they were in the high school.

Eriol caught up with her and said," You forgot your book that you were assigned to read in English class."

He handed her the book and Sakura smiled gratefully at him. She was glad he had stayed here. He had been a huge help for her in learning how to use the Sakura cards more effectively. Sakura had not changed much in the years that had passed since that day. She just looked maturer and had grown a few inches. Eriol had changed a lot. He looked like a youthful version of Clow Reed which had made almost all the girls in their grade swoon over him, but he didn't pay any attention to them. He had only eyes for Kaho. Sakura thanked him for tracking her down to give her the book and sped off towards the park where she and Tomoyo had agreed to work on their math homework.

Ty, the head of the Li clan elders stood in his 3rd story bedroom looking out the window at the sea below. The waves crashed against the rocks, making a sound that resembled the ticking of a clock. They were baiting him, telling him that he was running out of time. Four years had passed, and yet they still didn't hold the cards in their hands. Brad and Will's two-point attack had failed miserably. When they got out the plane the tiger was there to greet them, before they could break into two groups. Over 13 men had died that night and 40 were wounded and most ended up being paralyzed for life. The clan had tried every thing, but the tiger was too smart. It was always one step ahead of them. He had been in the last attack for the cards, which had taken place almost a month ago. It had been 5 of the toughest fighters and he, it should had been an easy victory. All of the fighters had been slew and it had been only him left. He didn't attack the tiger, but ran. Ran like the coward he was. The tiger didn't follow him and he got to live another day. The clan had declared him a hero, being the only one to ever live after attacking the tiger, but the only reason he was alive was because he ran. He felt guilty, he had to tell the clan what really happened before some else got killed because they thought the tiger could be beaten.

The words that Aubrey had said four years at the council of the elders meeting that took place after Syaoran's returning home after failing to get the cards echoed through out his head. Ty was normally a very forgetful person, but for some reason, the words that Aubrey had said stuck in his mind. Aubrey was right, the tiger could never be beaten and they should make a deal with it so that no more got hurt or killed.

Ty yawned and walked away from his window and to his warm flannel bed for a mid-afternoon nap. He immediately fell into a feverish state of dream.

As sun started to set and fall below the horizon, a shadowy figure walked along the path in the park. He had not been there in many years, but this place felt familiar to him, more so then his home in Hong Kong. The place held many wonderful memories for him, which he had mostly none of anywhere else. Syaoran Li strolled down the path, just taking in the scent of the flowers in bloom. His mother Lerae had forbidden him to come here because of the creature that protected the cards from them, but he didn't care. He had convinced Wei, his butler to give him a plane ticket to come here. He had made sure to plan it so he would already be in Japan when his family found out what he had done. It was dangerous to be out here, he knew that, but since the last time he had been here, the killing of Sakura had weighted heavily on his mind. She tormented his dreams and he could always hear her laughing. He, being the future clan leader, meant that he would have to marry and have children to keep the line of magic strong. His mother had arranged several times for him to be married, but it won't work out. When he would see the girls that they had picked, all he saw was Sakura, dozens of them. He felt so bad for killing her that he couldn't marry them or show any interest towards them. He came because some details of the night still didn't make any sense to him. He had feeling in his gut that Sakura was living, that her dying had been some sort of trick. He had silently been praying that for years. He had told his idea to the clan, about Sakura being alive, and they had just laughed. They thought he was nuts and had put him on medication. He wanted to prove them wrong and to prove to himself that Sakura was really dead.

Back at the Li clan mansion, Lerae was hysterical. She couldn't find Syaoran anywhere. Where could he be? She wandered into Ty's room. Ty always knew where every one was. When she walked into the room, she found Ty sitting in a desk chair by the window, deep in thought.

"Yo, Ty. Do you know where Syaoran is hiding?" Lerae asked.

"He went to Tomeda," replied Ty, eyes never straying from the window.

Lerae turned him around to face her. " What do you mean he's in Tomeda?" she asked, her face a mask of fury.

"He needed to prove to himself that Sakura was really dead."

"And you let him go!" Lerae screamed." How could you?"

"I wasn't the one to give him the ticket."

"And why are you so mad about him being in Tomeda," continued Ty.

"He's going to get himself killed. The tiger will kill, just like his father," Lerae yelled, more out of worry then pure anger.

Ty started laughing. Lerae was mad. It wasn't funny. She slapped across the face which only made him laugh harder.

Tears started running down his face." I'm sorry, it wasn't really funny, but the tiger wouldn't hurt him." Ty said

"What do you mean."

"As long as he doesn't attack the tiger, he'll be fine."

"And you know that because…"

"The only reason I lived when we attacked the tiger was because I didn't attack it."

Lerae gasped.

"I wasn't a hero or some awesome fighter. I lived because I was a coward. I ran. All the others were instantly slayed when we arrived. I was the only one that didn't have the chance to attack it when every one else did. When I ran, the tiger didn't even chase me."

"So you lied!"

"Yeah," Ty bowed his head." I wanted the glory of being the only one living that ever saw the tiger."

"You're not the only one," said lerae mysteriously.

"What do you mean. I'm the only one that lived who saw the tiger, and the only ones to see the tiger was the fighters."

Lerae closed her eyes and decided to reveal her deadly secret that she had been keeping for the past 4 years. " The night Syaoran attacked and killed Sakura, I saw the tiger. The tiger was on our balcony porch."

"So what happened."

"I thought the tiger was going to kill us for what we did, but for some reason it said it wasn't allowed to. It also said that if Syaoran ever returned to Tomeda it would.."Lerae made a huge gasp, realizing what the tiger had said.

"It would what."

"It would kill him," said Lerae, still in shock.

Ty nodded on head in understanding." I highly doubt the tiger would hurt, unless he goes after the cards and attacks it. The tiger seems to play by the rules and I don't think it would break them,"

Lerae nodded, understanding what he meant, but she was still nervous. "Anyway how was able to get to Tomeda. He hasn't learned the spell that would send him there."

"Uhhhh, I don't know," said Ty, nervously.

Lerae shot him a glare that could send hell to freeze over." You know, tell me," she growled in a low tone.

"Wei arranged a ticket to take him there," confessed Ty.

Lerae spun around and walked out the door, yelling at the top of her lungs for Wei to come and see her.

"Oh, come on Sakura, you can do better then that," yelled Kero from the tablecloth at their picnic dinner.

It was around 6:00 and Sakura was practicing her magic. They were working on trying to make Sakura more used to flying around so she got faster. Yue was flying around shooting his ice crystals at her and she had to dodge them which she was failing miserably at. An ice crystal hit her, ripping her wings, and she plummeted to the earth. She reached into her pocket, searching for the Float card, when she realized that Kero had made her leave them on the ground. She kept on falling until 7 feet from the ground when a pair of warm arms held her. She looked up at the person who had caught her and she was face to face with Yue. She screamed in shock and Yue almost dropped her. Sakura calmed down and Yue put her down.

"Sorry, it's just that you scared me," said Sakura, referring to why she screamed.

Yue just nodded.

Syaoran Li walked through the park remembering what happened that fateful night. He knew that the park held some clue to what he was looking for. He was going to prove once for all that Sakura was dead. He heard a scream from the distance, which sounded a lot like Sakura's. It couldn't be, she is dead. It 's just my imagination, Syaoran kept telling himself. But the scream was too real like to ignore and Syaoron went in the direction of the scream. Unknown to him, a figure was watching him from in the trees, swearing under her breath. All the perfectly laid plans that Ray had made to make sure that Li clan didn't interfere with Sakura's life were going down the drain. Eriol had told her that she was forbidden to trick Syaoran if he was going to find out that Sakura lived. She groaned in anger and jumped to the next tree following him.

Syaoran was getting closer and closer to where the noise was coming from. Ray was hoping that Syaoran would be an idiot and not be able to track down the noise, but he unfortunately wasn't. Syaoran peered out into the area that the noise had came from and what he saw was almost as shocking as him killing Sakura. There sat Sakura, Kerberos, and Yue eating a picnic dinner, so he had been right, after all. Sakura was alive and well. But how is she still living? I killed her, he thought. He quietly sneaked away and ran towards the exit of the park, to a payphone so he could tell the clan what he had found out.

**************************************************************************************

Ray watched Syaoran go. She was pissed off that Eriol wouldn't let her protect Sakura from the greedy Li clan. She wasn't doing her job in life, not protecting her. She closed her eyes and two wings sprouted on her back and she took off, making sure that Kero and the others were in the ground so they didn't spot her. She flew over to Eriol's mansion which was on the out-skirts of town. She landed by his front door and let herself in. She was immediately greeted by the sound of saxophone music that was coming from the kitchen. She walked into the kitchen and found Kaho and Eriol swing dancing. They were having good time so she didn't interrupt them yet. As much as she hated Kaho, she liked seeing Eriol happy. The song ended aand Eriol put Kaho in a dip. Ray got an evil plan in her head and she cleared her throat, which surprised them, and Eriol dropped Kaho. Kaho fell on the ground, banging up her knees. She smirked and Kaho gave her a nasty look.

"Why do you always to interrupt us," said Kaho, who was on the floor still,, half pouting.

"Because you're a bitch and Eriol doesn't deserve you," Ray smoothly replied.

Kaho stood up and grabbed a steak knife from the sink, "Could you repeat that because I'm not sure what you said," Kaho said threateningly, advancing on her. Ray's hand went to the knife that she kept in the back pocket of her jeans that she used when her magic failed her. Eriol, sensing the tension asked," Why are you here Ray?"

"We have a problem." 


	5. A new plan

"What do you mean we have a problem?" Eriol asked, not really concerned about what it was.  
  
Before Ray could spit out a single word, Kaho said" It's properly nothing. Come on, Eriol. Let's get back to dancing."  
  
Ray rolled her eyes at Kaho and turned her back to Kaho." Syaoran knows about Sakura being alive," she said.  
  
"Why didn't you stop him from finding out. Are you afraid of getting hurt by little Syaoran," Kaho said, baiting Ray.  
  
Before Eriol could tell Kaho the truth, a blur of color passed from the other side of the kitchen and pinned Kaho to the counter. Ray stood next to her, her blade against Kaho's neck.  
  
"Do you really want to die today? Because if you don't I suggest you shut up," Ray hissed.  
  
"And why would I listen to a slut like you," Kaho whispered low enough so that Eriol couldn't hear.  
  
Before Ray could hurt Kaho, Eriol yelled on the top of his lungs for them to stop it. Anytime ray and Kaho were in the same room, it was a death match. Both hated each other with the passion of a thousand suns.  
  
"Ray, put the knife down and back away from Kaho," Eriol said calmly.  
  
Ray backed away a few inches, but kept her knife drawn.  
  
"Kaho honey, I gave Ray instructions not to interfere with the finding of Sakura being alive," Eriol said.  
  
Kaho took that into consideration and walked into the living room where Eriol kept his spying glass. Kaho wanted to find out for herself if Sakura was now in danger from Syaoran. Eriol and Ray followed behind her. Eriol got out his staff and performed the spell that made it work and focused the looking glass on Syaoran.  
  
Syaoran was out of breath from running. He was having trouble finding a pay phone so he could call home. He had finally found one on Main Street and he punched in the number to call collect and put in his own home number. The phone rang a few times before Lerae picked it up.  
  
"Hello."  
  
"Hey, this is Syaoran."  
  
"Syaoran, you are so dead meat. Do you know how sick with worry I've been about you. What ever drove you to Tomeda. Sakura's dead, you saw it with your own eyes so why do you have to make sure."  
  
"That's what I'm calling about. I went to the park and I saw Sakura flying, avoiding Yue's ice crystals. She is very much alive."  
  
"Are you on some kind of medicine or something."  
  
"Mom, for god sakes I know what I saw. Sakura is alive and well and has the cards with her."  
  
"So why are you calling anyway."  
  
"I need you to tell the clan about Sakura. I am coming on the midnight flight and I have enough money for food. Tell the elders that they need to have a meeting tomorrow and I'll speak in front of them."  
  
"Ok, but I have one question. If Sakura is living, then who was the one you killed."  
  
"Oh, I haven't thought about that."  
  
"Well, the clan is going to ask and you need to have an answer."  
  
"All right, I am going to go because since you're calling collect, it is going to cost a lot so..bye."  
  
"Bye," and Syaoran almost had hung up when he heard Lerae say" Don't forget to bring some proof back with you," and Lerae hung up.  
  
In some respects, Syaoran was happy about Sakura being alive. He had loved her and he still did. He also had a second chance to get the cards and become the leader of the clan and the master of the cards. He had the chance to relive history and correct all the mistakes he had made last time. Syaoran walked away from the pay phone and down towards the airport.  
  
  
  
Eriol and the others watched Syaoran from the looking glass. They had heard the entire conversation with Syaoran and Lerae and there was going to be trouble.  
  
"Kaho, can you please call Nakura down here and could you go to the school and enroll one student in the 9th grade," Eriol said, his eyes never wavering from the looking glass.  
  
Kaho knew better then to argue with Eriol when he went into his fatherly, protect Sakura at all costs mode. She walked outside of the room and yelled for Nakura to come down. Kaho grabbed her coat from her bedroom closet and jumped in the car and drove towards the school.  
  
Eriol, after hearing the door slam, stood up with the throne of evil and started to pace in front of Ray. Ray looked on in curiosity. She wanted to know what Eriol was planning. There were thumps of feet hitting the steps and the door to the living room opened and Nakura walked in.  
  
"What do you want?" she asked  
  
Eriol stopped his pacing and looked in Nakura's direction. " Tell me something. Does she," he made a motion towards ray," does she look too much like Sakura that it might cause a problem if per se Sakura came in contact with her."  
  
Nakura made a circle around Ray, sizing her up. Ray watched on, her eyes following all of Nakura's movement. In Nakura's opinion, Ray didn't look that much like her though she was supposed to. Ray was shorter and muscular. Her eyes were a different color and her hair was more on the red side of auburn then blonde. Sakura's hair was cut short like it was when she was ten, and ray's was long that came to the small of her back.  
  
"Well, if needed she could pass for Sakura but otherwise they don't look too much the same," Nakura said.  
  
"Why do you want to know if I look too much like Sakura. It's really annoying when everyone else knows what's going on and you don't. Now spill," said Ray.  
  
"Syaoran is more powerful then me and Nakura and Suppi. We can't protect Sakura if Syaoran decides to attack or a member of the clan does. Someone has to be close to Sakura to protect her at all times and that person is going to be you."  
  
"What do you mean me?" asked Ray before realizing what his words had meant," no way, I'm not going to school."  
  
"Why not?" asked Nakura  
  
"Because I have to deal a enough horny guys trying to feel me down. I don't need any more. I get enough of them at the bar."  
  
"Any guy who actually tried to do that, we all know you would kick their ass without a second thought," Eriol said, smirking.  
  
"Anyway if you didn't dress so provocative, maybe we wouldn't have this problem," Eriol added, knowing it would make ray mad.  
  
It worked perfect. Ray got mad. " Don't bring my clothing into this. I just happen to like the way I dress. I have the body for it so why shouldn't I show it off."  
  
Nakura made some remark under her breath about showing off her body which came from Nakura's self-conscious about having no chest.  
  
Eriol decided just to let the topic rest. He, being a guy had no objections of what Ray wore." Come on Ray, you're the only one that is powerful enough to stop him and you are ruthless. You'll do anything to get the job done."  
  
"True," Ray replied meekly.  
  
Just at that moment, Kaho walked into the room with a bag in her hand.  
  
"Did you enroll Ray in school?" Eriol asked  
  
"Yeah." Here, this is your uniform," and she pushed the bag into Ray's arms. Ray opened the bag, which contained a shirt and a skirt. Ray held up the skirt and immediately replied," I'm not wearing this."  
  
"You have to. All the girls do," insisted Eriol.  
  
"Well, I'm not every girl. I hate skirts and."  
  
Nakura interrupted Ray. "Come on, there not that bad. They're pretty."  
  
"Do you think I care if it's pretty. I'm not wearing it."  
  
"You will wear it."  
  
"You're not my boss, Eriol."  
  
Nakura sat down on the couch and listened to their argument. This was going to be interesting. Neither would give in.  
  
A bird chirped announcing the start of a new day. The sun was peaking out from the horizon and Syaoran was in the car heading home. Wei had picked him up from the airport and Syaoran was going home to tell the clan what he had saw. The car pulled in to the driveway and the car came to a stop. Syaoran stumbled out of the car and to the front door. He was feeling groggy. His flight had left at midnight and the only sleep he had gotten was on the hour drive from the airport. Syaoran, half-asleep, pulled out the key to the mansion out of his pocket and put it into the lock. The door opened and Syaoran walked in. He started to walk in the direction of his room, which was in the left wing. He seriously needed sleep. He had almost accomplished sneaking away to his room, when his mother saw him. She ran to him and wrapped him in a huge bear hug. Syaoran was in shock, his mother wasn't the touchy feely type. She was scarring him.  
  
"Honey, the clan wanted to see you. You got proof that Sakura's alive?"  
  
"Yeah ," and Syaoran reluctantly followed Lerae to the downstairs chamber where the elders meet.  
  
They walked into the room where the seven-stonefaced elders sat. Syaoran grabbed a seat near the door and Lerae sat down next to him.  
  
Ty stood up and announced," We have come here together for this meeting to discuss Syaoran's findings. I give the floor to you, Syaoran."  
  
Ty sat down and Syaoran stood up. "I went to Japan to prove to myself that Sakura was dead, but this is what I found." Syaoran got out of his pocket a packet of pictures of Sakura that he had took with a disposable camera and he slammed the pictures on the table for empties. "Sakura is alive and doing well and she still possesses the cards."  
  
"What do you mean she is alive? You killed her," shouted Mari.  
  
"I thought I had killed her. But I guess I didn't," Syaoran replied meekly.  
  
Brad started laughing evilly. He hated Syaoran and here was his chance to pick on him, " Well, maybe you didn't kill your girlfriend. Maybe you are just lying to us."  
  
Before Syaoran could hurt Brad, Ty held up his hand. " Stop it, Brad. We don't doubt your honesty Syaoran. You honestly thought you had killed her. But here is the question. Who did you really kill?"  
  
The room was slient in thought. Aubrey was going to speak, but Brad interrupted him. "Does the deal still stand. That whoever gets the cards will become the leader of the clan."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"That is so simple. You mind as well let me be the leader because the clan is so totally getting the cards," said Brad, overconfident of himself.  
  
"It's not that easy," whispered Aubrey.  
  
All eyes were on him. "What do you mean it's not that easy," said Will, annoyed.  
  
"The tiger will protect the cards and Sakura to the death. Also, since Sakura is alive, she would have to die for us to gain access to the cards," he said.  
  
Everyone was silent, just digesting the information.  
  
Syaoran stood up and announce that since he wasn't needed there, he was going to leave and get some sleep. The elders watched him go and continued their discussion over the cards.  
  
Sakura stood in at the base of Tokyo tower. She was there to meet someone, somebody that would be familiar to her. She looked up and saw the girl who looked like her. Her form was in shadow but she could tell it was her. She looked different for some reason. Over the past 4 years, the girl who was her twin had haunted her dream. She was always giving advice to Sakura and Sakura thought of her as a friend. Sakura looked around her and her eyes locked on to a shadow. The entire area around the tower was light up, except that spot. She looked up at her double and she could see it motioning her to look at the shadowy area. Sakura shrugged and looked at the area. A wolf sprung out the shadows, its teeth bared. Sakura screamed and woke up. Her alarm clock was ringing and she shut it off. She pulled her uniform out of her closet and ran downstairs. She checked the white board and found that her brother and her dad had both left. She grabbed a piece of fruit from the table and headed off to school.  
  
When she got to school, she found that for once in her life, she wasn't late.  
  
"What's the matter with you. You're not late," teased Eriol.  
  
Sakura stuck out her tongue at him and sat down. "Everyone sit down because the bell rang," their teacher, Mrs. Silver said.  
  
"Today we have a new student named Ray. Ray come on in," Mrs Sliver said.  
  
Ray walked into the classroom in her new uniform, a shirt and pants. She had won in their argument over if she had to wear a skirt or not. Oh course they were guy's pants but Ray didn't care.  
  
"Ray, there is a seat behind Sakura. Why don't you sit there," Mrs. Silver said.  
  
Ray started walking down the row of desks, nervous that Sakura would recognize her. 


	6. Feelings and weakness

Before you read this, I have one thing to say. I have yet to figure out what kind of coupling I gonna use. I love Sakura and Yue pairings and sometimes Syaoran and Sakura but both of them have there could happen qualities and their no way could ever happen qualities. In your reviews tell me what you want so I can plan on what I'm gonna do. Give me any pairing because as you know I'm messed up and depending on my mood I'll write anything. So now go do your job of reading my beautiful story.

Ray slowly walked down the aisle nervously. She wasn't scared about school or making friends or anything like that. She was scared that Sakura would recognize her. Sakura had been having dreams about her for a few years now and Sakura had a pretty good idea what she looked like. She prayed to the fates that Nakura had done her job of getting Ray unrecognizable well. She passed Sakura's desk and Sakura gave her a small friendly smile. Ray smiled right back but for a different reason. Nakura had done her job well. Eriol breathed a sigh of relief. Everything was going to plan. Ray would come friends with Sakura and Ray would be near Sakura at all times. The only thing he was worrried about was that Ray stuck out among the members of the school. Ray was only girl that wore pants and she had re-sewn them to make them flared. The school shirt for the girls came in 2 sizes, newborn or elephant and Ray had chosen newborn. All the other girls had gotten the bigger size. Ray was wearing a pair of flip-flop sandals even though it was April. Ray wasn't to easily pass as your average normal student. Eriol should have expected that because Ray wasn't normal.

The whole day passed uneventfully and it was around 5:00. Ray was walking home from cheerleading tryouts. Actually Ray didn't exactly have a house, but you get the idea. Ray had quickly become friends with Sakura and Tomoyo and Sakura had talked her into going out for the cheerleading squad. Ray hated cheerleading because of it glorifying guys, but she went out for it anyway for fun and to stay close to Sakura. Ray got to the end of the abandoned road and climbed over the black iron fence that surrounded the house. She landed inside the fence gracefully and let herself in to the house. The smell of chocolate chip cookies was hanging in the air and ray walked into the kitchen where she found Eriol taking out a batch of cookies out of the oven. Ray walked in and sat on the kitchen counter waiting for Eriol to decide of the cookies were done or if they had to brown up. Eriol put the cookies on the counter and faced Ray.

"You had to make a scene, didn't ya," Eriol said sighing.

"What do you mean?"

"Look at you," he said, and Ray looked down at her school uniform.

"What's wrong with it? Ray said defiantly.

"For one, you just can't possibly be normal. Did you see the guys, they were practically drooling when they saw you. You stand out."

"And your point is. Eriol, look, loosen up, for god sakes," and Ray grabbed a cookie off the hot tray. "And seriously, I'd like to see the guys try to make a move on me," she muttered while chewing the cookie.

"I can understand the shirt and pants because you basically grew up wearing that kind of stuff, but the flip-flops. Couldn't you just wear dress shoes."

"Uhh, I don't have dress shoes. I have boots though. I could wear those, if it really bothers you," Ray suggested.

"Don't worry about it."

"Then why are telling me not to wear flip flops if you really don't care if I do," Ray said flabbergasted.

Eriol shrugged. "I have a favor to ask of you. Can you find out Syaoran and the Li clan plan for getting the cards?"

"K ," and Ray reluctantly slid off the counter.

She walked towards the door and stopped like she was remembering something. "By the way, the cookies are awesome," Ray said before stepping outdoors. Eriol heard the door slam and he went back to baking the cookies. Ray crossed the lawn and pulled out her knife from her back pocket. The knife was a three-inch blade with a red stone embedded in the hilt. She spun the knife once around her hand and it turned into her staff, a wooden stick with a ruby at the end. She twirled it once around her head and chanted some words of an ancient language. 2 wings surrounded her and then they opened. Where Ray once stood, remained only air.

Inside the chamber of the Elders at the Li clan mansion, a heated debate was going on over what to do to get the cards.

"Why can't we just go there and kill Sakura and then take the cards," yelled Brad frustrated. It seemed to him that no one was listening to him. It never occurred to him that his idea was stupid.

"It's not that simple, Brad. If we are going to get the cards, we need to plan before we just go out and get them," Mari said calmly.

"That's where we messed up before. We acted before we planned," Ty said, leaning on the wall standing.

"We also have the problem of the tiger. It isn't going to allow us back in Tomeda without a fight," Mari added..

Ray smiled from the rafters of the room. It was good that they still feared her. She had transported herself to the mansion from Eriol's house. She enjoyed watching ordinary people go about their life's. Since she never ever had a family, it made her feel like that they were family, that their problems were her own. She crept to the end of the plank she was balancing on and jumped down making sure to stay parallel with the wall. She landed softly on her feet and walked through the wall so that she was just outside the room. Being invisible and walking through stuff were some of her favorite abilities. Syaoran stood outside, his ear to the door, trying to listen in to the Elders discussion. He was going to be a part of getting the cards and he wanted to know what they were planning. He wasn't sure whatever he was happy or mad that Sakura was alive. They were choosing her fate in there.

"What are you doing?" said a voice from behind him.

Syaoran jumped startled. He turned around and saw Melien facing him, her arms crossed.

"Well."

"I was just uhhh kinda listening to their conversation in there," said syaoran sheepishly.

Melien just nodded her head in understandment and kneeled down next to him by the door where they sat in silence, just listening to the conversation. They had agreed on how they were going to the cards and when, but they had yet to agree on to who was going to get them. Brad was trying to convince his fellow clan elders that he was the one most fit to get the cards. Whoever got the cards would be proven worthy by getting them and would be the leader of the clan. Ty and the others with a exception of Will couldn't, won't agree that Brad should be the one to get the cards. They were lucky enough to get a second chance for the cards and they couldn't mess it up.

"Why not Syaoran," said Aubrey. This was the first time the whole meeting that he had spoken and Syaoran's ears perked up at the mention of his name.

"He is the same age as Sakura, making it easy for him to get close to her. He knows the town and he knows her abilities and her minion's abilities. He was the one who was originally supposed to get them, but because of circumstances out of his control, he wasn't able to get them. He deserves a second chance and has to the right to prove himself to all of us."

The idea was greeted with murmurs of agreement. Brad leaned back in his chair, mad that he was being out-voted.

"If Syaoran gets the card, he will the ruler of the clan, agreed," said Ty.

"Agreed," shouted the rest the elders and they moved on to the next thing on their agenda. Syaoran backed up from the door in shock. A small grin was on his lips. He would be able to complete his density, be the master of the cards and be the leader of the clan. He was getting a second chance. 

"Why are you smiling?" asked Meilen.

"We're going to Tomeda," said Syaoran, grinning evilly.

"I'm not going," said Melien defiantly and started walking away.

Syaoran jumped to his feet and grabbed Melien's arm before she could get away. "What do you mean you're not going?"

Melien pulled her arm from Syaoran's grasp and leaned against the hardwood wall. "I'm not going to help you this time get the cards. I didn't want to do it then and I don't want to do it now."

Syaoran looked her in the eyes playing on he fact that Melien used to be in love with him. " I need your help," he whispered softly.

When he did that, Melien could never refuse him. "Ok," she whispered back. 

Ray rolled her eyes from behind the fish statue that stood in the hall. Meilin was weak. She was blinded by her love for Syaoran, but whatever was family or not, Ray didn't know. She watched as Syaoran went up to his room. Before Syaoran could close the door to his room which was just down the hall from where she stood, Ray bolted from her spot and slipped through the door. She needed to know how far along in his training Syaoran was so she could go tell Eriol.

A full moon light up the entire town of Tomeda, making it easy to see by even though all the street lights weren't yet on because it wasn't dark enough. Yue was flying back from practice with the cards. Him and Kero were trying to teach Sakura how to use the mist card which really wasn't going well. Sakura just couldn't get the card to do what she wished. Yue flew down to Tokyo Tower and perched on its rafters. He liked this place because this was the place he meet his new mistress and he really didn't feel like flying home just yet. He looked at the setting sun and sighed. It felt just like yesterday when Sakura was battling him for the possession of the cards. He wouldn't admit it but Sakura had grown on him and he loved her as if she was Clow. Sakura had grown up from the scared scrawny 10 year old to almost fearless young adult, the key word being almost fearless. Anytime Sakura got scared, she would immediately grab Yue who was usually the closest to her. He would pretend that it didn't affect him, her touch, but it did. More so then most people thought. 

"Yueeeee," screamed a certain crazed winged butterfly. Yue looked up, his thoughts being interrupted, and saw Ruby Moon flying at him. He didn't move quickly enough and Ruby bumped into him, sending both of them in a tangle of limbs and wings off the roof and plummeting to the ground. Yue landed softly on the ground, his wings had slowed down the fall so it didn't hurt too much. Yue pushed Ruby off him and stood up, dusting off the dirt from his white clothing. His clothes were dirty because knowing his luck they landed a mud puddle. 

Yue sighed." Why can't you just leave me alone for once?" he complained.

Ruby smiled and said her hyper annoying voice," And the fun in that would be."

Yue just groaned. She didn't get it how annoying her hyper-activity was. It was like she was high on life.

Ruby, noticing how annoyed Yue was at her decided to dig the wound deeper," Thinkin about a certain emerald eyed flower again."

Yue blushed and growled in his best tone," Shut up."

"Make me, I'm going to tell," she shouted teasingly and took off like a shot towards the direction that she had come from. Yue took off after her to stop her from telling the whole world something that wasn't true. If course if it happened to be true, he'd never admit it.

Sakura rushed into the door to homeroom, just barely making it to her seat before the bell rang. She was like usual late for school. The homeroom teacher called them off for attendance and Sakura savored her time of just sitting down and not moving. The bell rang announcing the start of 1st period and Sakura and the others trudged their way to gym class. Sakura opened her locker containing her clothes and found Ray changing right next to her.

"I thought you were in 8th period gym."

"I got switched."

"O, cool."

"Yeah."

It was outdoors co-ed gym class and they were going to be playing 1 on 1 basketball. They got to choose their partners and Sakura immediately paired up with Tomoyo. Eriol had paired up with a different guy and Ray was left to fend for herself getting a partner. She looked around trying to find someone anyone that wasn't already partnered up with. The line shifted in front of her and she found that she was up. She looked up and found that her partner was some buff guy with spiked up blond hair and blue eyes. She heard Sakura from behind her give a sigh of sympathy. Ray rolled her eyes and walked up to the court and got ready to steal the ball from his hands when he started to dribble towards the basket. Sakura felt sorry for her. The guy was Wayne Greding, star of the basketball team and had a ego the size of Texes. He thought that he was gods gift to the world and thought he was all that. He swaggered confidently to the court with the basketball in his hands. He was so sure that he was going to win. Eriol felt sorry for him. Wayne started dribbling the ball in place, forming a strategy in his head on how to get past Ray. Ray just stood in front of him, eyes half closed, listening the drum of the ball on the hard blacktop. Wayne made a step towards the basket and Ray was on the ball like a dog is to a bone. She stole the ball and dribbled towards her basket and slam dunked it before Wayne even had a chance to react. The ball swished through the hoop and Ray caught it and passed it to Wayne. The expression on Wayne's face was priceless, he was in complete shock and everyone else was too. It wasn't every day that the star of the basketball team got showed up. Eriol hid his grin from the others because Wayne would murder anyone that dared laugh. Everyone hated Wayne because he was so full of himself and everyone was happy to see him get beaten by a scrawny girl. Wayne's face was red in anger and Ray smirked. This was going to be fun. Wayne glared at her and Ray nonchalantly stretched her arms in the air raising her white tank top and showing off her flat tan stomach. Instead of waiting for Ray to get in position he immediately started towards his basket. Ray easily caught up wit him and got the ball and shot it in her basket from the other side of the court. The ball went in like it was nothing and Eriol grinned remembering how long Ray and Nakura had practced doing that in his house in England. The pattern repeated itself and Wayne got creamed by Ray.

Ray walked off the court calmly like nothing had happened and headed toward the locker room to get a drink of water. The gym teacher dismissed them and they headed to the locker room to get changed. Eriol could hear Wayne telling all his friends that Ray had cheated and he had let her win. Everyone just chuckled under their breath. Though he was one of the so called "popular" people, everyone hated him.

After school, cheerleading practice was ending and all the girls were hanging around the front entrance, buying soda from the machine. Basketball practice was getting out also and Eriol, Sakura, and Ray were talking about their plans for the weekend.

"So what you doing, Ray," asked Sakura.

"I was going to go roller-skating, but my plans kinda fell through so I have no idea what I'm doing."

Sakura was going to say something but when she noticed Wayne getting close to them, she stopped.

Wayne budged into the tight circle they had formed and tapped Ray's shoulder. Ray spun around to face him and Wayne pinned her shoulder to the wall with one hand so she couldn't escape.

"Do you have plans for tonight?" he asked, running his other hand through his blond hair.

"No, I don't. Why do you ask?" Ray answered back, trying to sound sugary sweet.

"So you'll go out with tonight, meet me at…"

"Wait a second. Did I say that I was going to go out with you? Because I didn't hear myself saying that. I have better things to do with my time then to go out with vain jackass like yourself," Ray said sarcastically and started walking away from him.

Wayne's face blushed a deep crimson and he grabbed Ray's shoulder, preventing her from moving. No one got to insult him, especially around a crowd of people.

"You will go out with me. No girl can say no to me. You want me, you know you do," he hissed in her ear, loud enough so that everyone could hear.

"Leave me alone, Wayne. I don't want you and until hell freezes over then I will actually want you. Now let me go or I'll…."

"You'll what. Like you could actually hurt me."

Ray grinned and in a low whisper said," I can and I will. Now let me go."

"Not until you say yes."

"Fine, your choice," she said and punched him in the nose, making him bleed. 

Wayne's hands went to his nose and he looked at her angrily. No one hurt him without getting hurt back. He threw a punch at Ray, which she easily dodged. He threw punch after punch, kick after kick at her, but she avoiding them as easy as a little kid jumps over a jump rope. It was all fun and games for her. Wayne backed away from her, sweating like a pig, thinking that Ray had been beaten badly by him. He was surprised to find that ray hadn't even broke a sweat yet or was breathing hard. Ray was going to hurt him for even attempting to hurt her, but noticing the look on Eriol's face, she walked away, slightly swaggering in confidence that she had won. Wayne tried to go after her but Eriol and Yamazaki held him back.

"Why the hell did you stop me," yelled Wayne in the face of Eriol. His nose was bleeding badly now and his entire face was smeared in it. Eriol was able to hold back his laughter but Yamazaki had no such luck. He started laughing hard and fell to the ground shaking. 

"Shut the hell up," Wayne screamed and made a motion to kick him but decided against it, seeing that a teacher was near by. Wayne made a motion with his chin to his crowd and they walked away behind their leader. As soon as he was out of earshot, everyone cracked up.

Gold eyes meet the stone-faced members of the clan. It was a meeting of the entire clan. The clan elders had came up with a plan to get the cards and were announcing it to them. Syaoran stood in front of the clan. He, after many hours of discussion with the elders, had finally thought up a plan.

"Members of the clan, please take your seats and quiet down," Syaoran heard himself say.

The crowd settled down and Syaoran continued," A few days ago, I went to Tomeda to see what had happened to the cards that Clow created. I found that Sakura wasn't dead and we had been tricked into believing that she was."

Murmers erupted from the crowd and Syaoran raised his voice so he could be heard.

"The cards belong to us by birth right, not to some girl who just happened to open the book," he shouted, ignoring the fact that Fugitaka was the half-recarnation of Clow.

He heard himself shout," Sakura has to die, it's the only way we can ever control the cards," but his heart wasn't in it. It was an oxymoron. He didn't like to see Sakura hurt back then and he still didn't. But he had to do what he had to do. "We have been given another chance at the cards and we can't mess up. We will go as a clan to Tomeda.." he paused for dramatic silence," And get back what is ours." The whole clan cheered. Brad who was sitting to Syaoran's right with the rest of the Elders smiled. He would now have an equal chance as Syaoran to get the cards and come leader of the clan. Ray watched silently from the back of the room. After the incident with Wayne, she had transported herself here to hear the plan so she could relay it to Eriol. It never ceased to amaze her how much of a wimp Syaoran was in front of the clan. She leaned on the wooden doors that led out of the room and drew her power signature with her staff and transported out of there, before the members of the clan got near to her.

In front of Eriol's mansion, two white gold tipped wings unfolded to reveal Ray. She climbed over the iron gates and walked to the front door. Not bothering to knock, she barged in and found the house quiet. She could hear the pounding to a basketball on the hard ground from outside meaning Nakura was at least there. She concentrated, listening for any sound. She could hear a low moan from the top of the stairs. She didn't bother walking up the stairs, that would alert whoever was up there of her presence. If she was right on what was happening up there, she was going to embrass them real good. She floated up the stairs and towards the direction of the sound. The sound was coming from inside the bedroom. She slyly grinned and let herself in. She was disappointed in what she saw. They weren't doing what she thought they were. Eriol was giving Kaho a back rub. Oh well, she could do what she wanted to do anyway.

Ray made herself uninvisable and stood in front of the door, arms crossed.

"Am I interrupting anything."

Kaho sat up with a start, startled. She self-consciously pulled her shirt down and re-snapped her bra. Eriol wasn't too surprised to see her. She always showed up at the oddest times.

"Didn't ya ever think about knocking," Kaho grumbled.

"And what would be the fun in that," Ray said grinning.

Kaho said something under her breath and stood up and straightened her clothes. "You always have to pop in at the most inconvenient moments," she whined.

Ray just ignored her and said," Eriol, I need to talk to you."

Eriol made a motion for Kaho to leave the room and Ray flopped down on the bed.

"Why does she hate me so much?" she asked, after Kaho left the room, pouting.

"Because you're competition for my attention."

"O"

"Anyway you're not exactly nice to her are you. So what did you want to see me for."

"I have news. Almost the whole Li clan is coming here to Tomeda to try to get the cards. They are bringing so many people because of the combined forces of Sakura and you and also," Ray made quote marks with her hands," the tiger."

"I see, so what's the problem."

"Duh, the entire clan is coming. Sakura and her guardians and you guys could handle a few of them but not almost 70 of them. Sakura's isn't going to be able to handle them, especially if she doesn't know about it."

"So make her know."

"What do you mean."

"Let's just say if someone finds out what is happening in one of the most powerful mysterious groups and it gets leaked out to the press…you get the idea."

"Yeah..I have a question. Why didn't you want me fighting Wayne. We all know that I could have took him," Ray said, cracking her knuckles for empathize.

"I know you can, but let's face it. When you start something you have to finish it and if you hit him, he would have ended in the hospital in critical condition, not that would be a mad thing "Eriol smiled. "By the way, don't show off your skills so much in gym class. You stand out."

"Why shouldn't I? You have to admit, you wanted to see Wayne go down just as much as I did."

"Yeah, I did," Eriol admitted.

Ray stood up from the bed and walked out of the room. She had work to do.

Sakura stumbled up to her bedroom half- asleep. She had gotten back from ice-skating and it was around 11:00 at night. She turned on the TV and slipped out of her clothes into her pink satin pjs. She moved around quietly as to not wake Kero and slipped in under the covers. She had almost nodded off when she realized she had forgotten to turn off the TV. She stumbled out of bed and was about to turn off the tv when something the reporter said caught her attention.

"Today, a reliable source informed us that the infamous Li clan is coming here to our town for some business. The Li clan is based in Hong Kong and is one of the powerful and mysterious clans in the world."

The reporter droned on but Sakura wasn't listening. She turned off the TV and sat under the pink covers on her bed. She thought that it was all over with the Li clan. She thought that night was the last of ever seeing Syaoran. She hoped with all her heart that Syaoran was coming to apologize for the pain he put her through, but she knew it wasn't. They wanted the cards. She rolled onto her stomach and fell into a deep troubled sleep.

She was walking through the halls of the school. She was looking for an answer that she seeked, She walked into the classroom and saw her clone sittimg in a school uniform on the desk, obviously waiting for her. Her gray eyes skirted around the room, finally focusing on Sakura.

Sakura walked over to her and stood next to the desk that her clone had her feet on. 

"Syaoran's back," Sakura said simply.

"I know."

There was a moment of silence before her dark eyed clone spoke," You honestly thought you would never see him again."

"Well I thought…"

"You thought wrong. You have to be ready for anything. They are going to send everything they have againest you. They will do anything to get the cards."

"What do you mean?"

"You'll see," she said smiling. " Besides you want to see him again."

"I do not."

Ray raised one eyebrow.

"Ok, ok, I do, but not because I like him or anything. I want to hear him apologize for that night and anyway I kind love someone else."

Ray gave a knowing grin and vanished and Sakura woke up.

Lerae was mad. Somone had leaked the plan of attack to the press and by now Sakura proberly knew they were coming for her. But, she had no control over what happened from now on.

"Plane 80 is leaving in five minutes. I repeat plane 80 is boarding right now."

"There's our plane," she said to Syaoran who was behind her. It was the plane that was taking the most of the clan to Tomeda. Some were staying behind in case of some acccident happening there. Lerae put Meilin and Syaoran in front of her and they walked towards the boarding area.


	7. Betrayal

Merry Christmas by the way. I've finally decided on what pairing I'm using. It's drumroll please, Sakura and Yue  
  
Thanks to Jadewing, Sakura Child and Moonstar for always reviewing  
  
"1, 2, 3, Spit," yelled Nakura and Ray as they flipped out a card from their deck. It was midnight and they were playing Spit, a card game. It was completely quiet except for the murmur of the tv from in the other room and the sound of rushing to put cards down. Ray put her last card down and slapped the invisible pile.  
  
"I win," she screamed happily as she did a little dance around the huge banquet table. Nakura just rolled her eyes." You cheated."  
  
"Did not."  
  
"Did too."  
  
"Did not."  
  
"Did too."  
  
They kept screaming back at each other, a smile on their lips. It was tradition for them to do that. They would have kept screaming at another, but they heard a low groan from the doorway. It was Eriol. He was in his leopard print boxers and just looked like he had woken up. Ray and Nakura both shut upped and stared at him both thinking about how hot he looked at the moment.  
  
"Ummmm, sorry. Did we wake you," asked Ray.  
  
"Yeah, kinda."  
  
"Sorry, we forgot," added Nakura.  
  
"It's okay and.."  
  
Eriol was going to continue but someone from behind him interrupted him. Kaho stood behind him, wearing almost nothing except a black slip that barely clothed her. Ray cracked up and fell to the ground from laughing so hard. Kaho blushed and tugged the blanket around her tall form self- concisely.  
  
"It's not ok. You woke me up and."  
  
"We don't exactly believe you were sleeping," said Nakura, smiling mischievously. At that point Nakura lost it and joined Ray on the floor.  
  
Eriol waited until they were done with their laughing and continued what he was going to say," While I'm here, how did the press eat it up, Ray?"  
  
"Like dogs to a bone. It has been announced to the whole world that the Li clan is coming here."  
  
"Good, when did the plane leave?"  
  
"Around 9, and that brings me up to the next topic. The plane is still in the air. Do I have your permission to crash the plane." Ray grinned evilly, imaging all the members of the Li clan drowning in the ocean or being eaten by sharks.  
  
"Wait a second.you can't just kill off whoever you want anytime you want," said Eriol, surprised at Ray's bloodthirstiness.  
  
"Why can't I," Ray answered back pouting.  
  
"Because you just can't," he replied lamely. "Anyway how would you do it?"  
  
Before Ray could answer, Nakura butted in. " It's not that hard. You forget who you're talking to. Just create a storm and blow them out of the sky." It was a known fact that Ray's true name was Stormy. That was what Clow named her when she had been created, but since Ray grew up when Clow was dead, she choose her own name and that was the name that Nakura and crew meet her as. Ray high-fived Nakura. They were like sisters in the way they thought.  
  
"True and I'd love to let you do that, but.. well you know why I can't let ya."  
  
Kaho cleared her throat and everyone looked at her." Eriol, let's go back to bed. I'm sick of listening to Miss. Bloodthirsty," she whined like a lost kitty without it's mother milk and she grabbed Eriol's hand and led him back to their shared bedroom. When Kaho was out of earshot, they cracked up like a pack of hyenas.  
  
Melien stretched her arms into the air as she walked out of the plane. Their flight had been delayed because of a swiss army knife being on the plane. They had been in the plane almost all night and everyone was wiped out because of a baby being on board. The clan hadn't arranged for a private flight so they had to put up with all the distractions that came from a public flight. Meilin walked over to the baggage claim and grabbed her bags from the conveyer belt. She flipped over her shoulder her backpack and walked towards the van waiting outside and found the press crowding around the pickup area. She walked through the mob, listening to the crowd of reporters yelling questions at her. Her hand tightened on the handle of her suitcase and she remained silent. She reached the van and jumped in. She was the last one assigned to that van and the van pulled out.  
  
The week passed uneventfully and the Li clan settled into their new home. Meilin and Syaoran had shown them all around town and they were starting to get familiar with it. Sakura lived in fear that the clan would hurt her and now brought the cards with her everywhere. She now slept in Touya's old room and used mirror so if they tried to kill her in the night, they would get something that couldn't die. Wayne had kept bugging Ray and had to make several visits to the emergency room. They had to call Ray's parents, but since ray didn't have any, they ended up talking to Nakura and Suppi when they talked on the phone.  
  
Syaoran was getting restless. The clan had finally given him permission to get Sakura and he didn't want to mess up his chances now. Too bad that Brad had to go along with him because the clan thought they should have two most powerful sorcerers try first. Brad's pale blue eyes like ice scanned the area below him. Syaoran and him were stationed in the trees in the park near the bridge. Ray and Sakura were going to be roller-blading there today, which they knew from spying on the school. They could hear the giggling of them before they could actually see them. Ray and Sakura came into view and they got ready for action. Sakura and Ray said their goodbyes and Ray skated in the direction they just came from. She made sure to skate out of sight of Brad and Syaoran and she took to the air as a falcon to watch the action. She had to be ready in case Sakura needed help.  
  
Sakura walked towards the bridge, unaware of the looming danger. Syaoran noticed Brad making a motion with his hand to strike in three. Brad counted down to one on his hand and they both sent down a lightning bolt at her. Sakura already had shield up so it bounced off harmlessly. All the extra training Yue and Kero put her through was coming in handy. Her hair always felt like it was standing on end right before created lightning struck. Brad and Syaoran jumped down and Sakura started running towards the bridge. She didn't want to fight them without the help of Yue and Kero. She made it to the bridge and ran across it, feet banging on its hard wood surface. She go to the end and ran towards the direction of her house. Syaoran got to the middle of the bridge, Brad behind him, and stopped, seeing what was in front of him. He knew instantly why they called it" The Tiger."  
  
It was a black and white stripped tiger with a red jewel marking between its eyes. It sat on its haunches, staring at them with its hazy eyes, never blinking. Brad banged into Syaoran, sending them both on the ground. The tiger stood up, lazily stretching, and Syaoran realized the reason why the clan was so afraid of the creature. He heard a small coy feminine voice saying his head that if he ran, he'd live. The tiger grinned at them, striking fear in the guy's stout hearts. Syaoran turned around and started running in the other direction, his every instinct saying he was doing the right thing. Brad stood his ground. He wasn't going to be scared by a legend. Ray shrugged and the dimond on the tiger's forehead turned blue and a gust of wind was created in front of her, heading toward Brad. He had no time to react and the gust sent him flying, knocking him into a tree, and scaring a group of passing picnickers. He dusted himself off and got stuck explaining to some people who didn't even know magic existed what had happened for him to land in the manner he did. In his head as he talked, he swear vengeance on the tiger.  
  
Sakura ran in panic. She could swear she heard footsteps behind her. She did not know that they weren't following her, that they were distracted. She ran blindly in panic, adrenaline coursing through her veins. She wasn't looking where she was going and ran into a tall man. She quickly pulled back, scared when she realized it was Yue. She jumped into his arms and started sobbing, relived it was him. Yue held her as she sobbed, feeling very uncomfortable but he enjoyed having her in his arms. He cursed Syaoran for making his mistress cry. HE deserved to go to hell. Yue would have gladly left Sakura and kick his ass but he had his guardianly duties. He just held her, slightly blushing, a giddy smile on his lips. He wasn't going to complain about sakura being like this.  
  
Ray transformed out of her tiger state and grinned from ear to ear. She had fun sending Brad flying, she hated Brad. He was just too cocky for his own good. Even though she hated Syaoran, she rather see him as the leader of the clan then Brad. Ray jumped into the air, two wings growing on her back. She flew over to the direction where Sakura was and found her hugging Yue. She was stuck to him like glue and she could see the relaxed grin on Yue's face. She smiled slyly, things were going to be interesting soon. She landed on the ground behind the wall that bordered where Sakura stood and closed her eyes and tired to telepathically communicate with Nakura. She hated to break up the moment with Sakura and Yue, but she had something she needed to do. She got in contact with Nakura and Nakura turned into Ruby Moon and started flying to wher eRay had said she was. She saw from the air what Ray saw and she smiled. She was going to have fun with teasing him. She flew so that she was within seeing range of Yue and Sakura. Yue both noticed her at the same time and they broke the hug, both embrassed. Nakura had done her job. Yue flew over to her and started cursing her out for breaking up that glorious moment. She just took it, just giving him that knowing grin." I don't like her in that way," he repeated over and over, but.well.no one believed him. Sakura walked towards her home when she heard a familiar voice yell behind her," Wait up."  
  
Sakura slowed down and let Ray catch up with her. "Who was that guy you were with?" she asked, panting from the running. She knew exactly who he was but Sakura didn't know that.  
  
"Ohhh..you see..ummmm.i..," Sakura sputtered.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"It's a long story, you see.," Sakura started explaining the whole mess with the Clow/Sakura cards as they walked down the street.  
  
Brad walked into his hotel room that he shared with Will angrily. He was about ready to kill someone. He had ended up blowing a ton of power on brain-washing spells on the people who saw him crash in the tree. Will lay on the bed, reading a Stephan King novel. Will didn't notice Brad arrival because he was so absorbed into his book and Brad walked over to the bed and picked up the book from Will's hands.  
  
"Hey, why did the hell you do that for," exclaimed Will.  
  
"Sorry, had to get your attention somehow,"Brad said shrugging and flopped down on the opposite bed.  
  
"How did the thing with Sakura go?"  
  
"Don't ask."  
  
"That bad, huh."  
  
"Yep."  
  
Will snatched his book back from Brad's arms and flipped back to the page he was on. "You should go to a bar, drown your troubles with beer."  
  
"Exactly what I was thinking."  
  
Brad headed out toward the door then stopped. "Can you call the clan for me and ask them to try an attack tonight at Sakura's house? They won't expect it," asked Brad.  
  
Will nodded, now absorbed in his book. Will heard the door slam and he picked up the phone and dialed the clan number 678-5765. He got hold of them and explained the plan to them.  
  
Nine-o-clock, Sakura had fallen asleep in her room on her nice comfy pink bed. She was too tired to worry about sleeping in Touya's room tonight. Kero was asleep in his desk drawer, one ear open for any unusual sound. Outside the house across the street stood a figure sharpening a glistening knife. He touched the blade, seeing if it was sharp enough. He pricked his finger on it and he smiled slightly. He crossed the street and walked up the stairs that led to the Kinomoto residence. Staying close to the wall so he wouldn't be seen, he crept in the direction of Sakura's room. Though no one saw him, the only person who needed to see him saw him. Ray stood poised on the tree that led up to Sakura's room, her sliver eyes watching his every movement. She heard Brad's plans and she, being able to see in the future, knew that no one would wake up and Sakura would die. She couldn't let that happen. She was created for that exact purpose. The man walked right next to the tree and leaned on, looking around to make sure no one was watching. He forgot to look up into the tree. Ray jumped down on top of him from up the tree and they went sprawling on the ground. The guy slashed at her, cutting her clothes and slashing up her body. Ray managed to get hold on his neck and strangled him. He died from lack of air. Ray climbed off his silent form and making sure no one was watching, set his body on fire with matches. When his body became ashes, she put out the flames and gathered his ashs into a jar. For the first time she noticed that she was covered from head to toe in blood from her multiple cuts. She swore under her breath and mumbled a transportation spell under her breath to a place she knew would heal her.  
  
Eriol lay on top of Kaho kissing her hard on the lips. Kaho was moaning in pleasure as he worked his way down her collar bone. Eriol found the buttons on the back of her dress and was slowly unbuttoning them when he heard a ring of the doorbell. He sat up abruptly.  
  
"Eriol, honey, ignore them," she purred as she took Eriol's hands and placed his hands on her breasts. The doorbell kept ringing and it was slowly driving him nuts. It rang for a minute and he couldn't ignore it. He stood up, got off the bed, and ran down the steps. He opened the door and found Ray standing at the doorstep. He was about to yell until he saw what condition Ray was in. Her clothes were in torn in dozens of places and her already barely there clothed were about hanging on her. She had a gash on her forehead, which had stained her face red and had cuts all over. Eriol led her in and seated her down. He grabbed a pack of ointment and a roll of bangages from the bathroom medacine cabinet and came into the room and banages and ointment from the medcine cabinet and started wrapping up her hands which were the most cut up from the dude trying to get her ams from around her neck. She gave him a greatful smile and he smiled back. Even though she interupted something fun for him, he got to have fun staring at her barely clothed body up close. Ray blushed hearing his thoughts. There were some banging coming from the stairs calling Eriol's name." Eriol, what the hell.,"she walked into the room and noticed Ray and lost it.  
  
"That's it. I'm sick of almost being second to her always," she yelled and grabbed her coat and stormed out.  
  
"Wait..," Eriol yelled and his comment was greeted by the slamming of the door. Ray just shrugged and Eriol continued bandaging her.  
  
"Do you think I should go after her?" asked Eriol.  
  
"Nah, give her time to cool down."  
  
Kaho stormed down the street, heading toward a bar so she could drown her thoughts in a nice glass of vodka. She walked in the bar ad sat down at the counter. The busboy asked her what she wanted and she ordered her drink. She swung around on her rotating bar stool and faced the guy sitting next to her. He had hard ice-like eyes and blond highlighted brown hair.  
  
"Bad day at work?" she asked him.  
  
"You could say that."  
  
"My name is Kaho, your's."  
  
"Brad," he paused," So why are you here."  
  
"My boyfriend puts this other girl always ahead of me and tonight was the last straw. Just because she is more powerful then me and prettier doesn't mean she comes before me."  
  
"I know how you feel."  
  
"You do?." The bar attendant bring over several shots of vodka and she polished them off in a manner of seconds. For the first time tonight she noticed Brad's aura and found that he was a Li. She shrunk back in shock.  
  
"What's the matter with you?" Brad asked.  
  
"You're..you're a Li."  
  
"So."  
  
"You have the perfect life. Why are you here anyway."  
  
"It's common knowledge that we came back here for the cards. There is a creature which is a tiger that keeps embrassing us."  
  
"I've helped Sakura out so many times with her magic. If not for me, she would have failed the final judgment. And do I get a thank you or anything," she said exasperated.  
  
"Ohh, you're the Kaho that Syaoran mentioned in his letters home."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Do you, by chance, know who or what the tiger is?"  
  
"Yeah, she's the girl who my boyfriend Eriol spends all his time on."  
  
Brad got a greedy smile and asked," Would you like to dance?"  
  
"Sure," and Brad helped her up and they staggered drunkenly to the dance floor. They started dancing and Kaho found herself making a date between her tongue and Brad's tonsils.  
  
Ray stood by the bar exit. She had followed Kaho there to apologize because Eriol had asked her too. What she found was Kaho making out with Brad of the Li clan. Betrayal big time. She left the door and ran three blocks to eriol's place. She let herself in and found Eriol sitting on his red velvet chair by the fire.  
  
"How'd it go." he asked, not moving from the fire.  
  
Ray walked over to the chair and stood on front of him so he couldn't look at the fire.  
  
"I found Kaho dancing with Brad, of the Li clan elders over at the bar. I saw them French-kissing." She put bluntly.  
  
Eriol looked at her in shock." Kaho would never do that to Me." he said softly.  
  
"Well, she did."  
  
"You're lying. You hate the fact that I have a signficant other and you don't. Just because you aren't loved that doesn't mean." Eriol realized he had gone too far and saw ray almost in tears. She stormed out of the room, tears running down her face, silently crying. He heard the door slam and he hung his head in shame. Ray had no family or friends and she was sensitive to the fact. But she was lying. He just knew it. But deep now, he knew that Ray would never lie. She cared about him too much to. 


	8. Getting rid of the slime

All was quiet in the household, but Eriol knew it was the calm before the storm. He could hear the sound of thunder cracking and he knew that Ray was in a pissy mood. When she lost her temper, it would start storming. The intensity of the storm depended on how crappy her mood was. HE could hear the pounding of footsteps against the marble floor leading to the room where he was seated. He was in the sitting room where his looking glass was located. The door burst open and Nakura stomped in, radiating anger. Eriol knew he was in for it.  
  
"My date was wreaked because it starting storming violently. And the storm was because of you. How could you say that to Ray? She has been completely loyal to you and has basically given up her life to serve you. You know as well as I do that she would never lie to you. Just because she hates Kaho, doesn't mean she would lie just to get you broke up." Nakura yelled. Nakura continued yelling at him, but he wasn't listening. What Nakura said was true. Ray, ever since she was four had been helping Eriol. She raised herself and had helped him create Nakura and Suppi. She juggled watching Sakura 24/7 and holding down a job to pay for her food. She slept in a tree every night or on some building so she could watch Sakura's house.  
  
"I know I screwed majority so don't rub it, k," he said, hanging his head in shame.  
  
"She wasn't lying to you. If you just looked in the looking glass, you would see that," nakura said.  
  
Eriol pressed the button on his remote for the tv and the looking glass turned on. He released his staff and used it to show him what he desired to see. Like Ray had said, Kaho was in bed with Brad, having wild passionate sex. Eriol turned away in disgust. A million emotions coursed through his system from anger to guilt of not believing Ray. Nakura grabbed the remote and turned it off. They didn't need to see it.  
  
Nakura looked over at her master. HE was trying not to cry and Nakura walked over to him and hugged him. Suppi joined the group hug. Eriol broke away from the hug and stood up.  
  
"Where are you going?" Suppi asked, facing his master.  
  
"Out to find Ray to apologize. Is she working tonight at the club?"  
  
"Yeah," but Suppi's answer didn't matter. Eriol was already out the door.  
  
Eriol turned the car into a almost full parking lot and parked the car. He walked into the door and was greeted by the overwhelming sound of rock playing over the stereos. Barely dressed dancers were dancing on the top of the bar stand, the crowds of people drinking and watching the girls dance. Eriol pushed his way through the mob of people and elbowed his way to the bar table. He was right. Ray was dancing on the table in a backless halter- top and a pair of short bicycle shorts that empathized her butt. Eriol whistled at the sight of his best friend and Ray looked up from her dancing. She noticed him and when the song ended she motioned that she was taking a break so that another dancer could take her place and jumped down from the stand. Guys made whistles and provocative jeers as Ray followed Eriol to the back of the room where there was some booths. They slipped into the booth, sitting opposite of another.  
  
"What do you want?" she shouted over the music.  
  
"Can we go somewhere and talk," he shouted back.  
  
Ray stood up and walked over to her boss and told her that she was leaving. She gave her half the money that she had made dancing and working the bar and walked out the door, Eriol following after her. A big fat guy with his arms covered in tattoos blocked her way out of the club.  
  
"What do you want?" she asked him, annoyed.  
  
"I want you baby," he replied, half drunk. He made a grab at her shirt and caught the strings that held the shirt on her.  
  
"Let go on my shirt," she said in a low growl.  
  
"Like you could hurt me," he said, not realizing the danger he was now in.  
  
Ray shrugged and pried his hands off her shirt strings. She then kicked him in the gut and flipped him over so he was on his back. She placed her sandled foot on his stomach and pushed. She flipped her hair back dramatically and strutted out. They got into the car and Eriol drove them down the street so they couldn't hear the blaring of the music from the club.  
  
Eriol parked the car at the parking lot of the bank, which was almost next door.  
  
"I'm sorry for not believing you."  
  
"You should be," Ray muttered under her breath.  
  
"I should have listened to you all those years ago when you said that she would just cheat on me." Eriol could see that Ray was starting to soften.  
  
Ray smiled. She loved being right. "It's okay. Apology accepted." She said and Eriol turned the key, starting the engine and they drove back to Eriol's place.  
  
As soon as they walked into the door, they were bombarded by Nakura who was bouncing off the wall.  
  
"Eriol, can we throw a party next weekend?" she asked.  
  
Eriol took off his jacket and hung on the hook in the closet. "Yeah sure, whatever," he said.  
  
Nakura squealed in excitement and hugged him in delight." By the way, Kaho is back. She's in the bedroom. She doesn't know that we know about her cheating on you," she whispered. Eriol laboriously trugged his way upstairs to the bedroom. He walked in and was greeted by a kiss from Kaho, who was acting like she had done nothing out of the usual. Nakura and Ray ran like excited kids who woke up on Christmas day to the sitting room and they focused their thoughts on what was happening in the room. The glass fogged over and it showed the bedroom. Nothing was happening in there and the two girls waited in excitement for the coming festivities. Both of them really didn't like Kaho much and couldn't wait to see her bitched out. Suppi came flying in on his butterfly wings with a bowl of popcorn and they passed it around, watching the glass.  
  
"So did you do anything special tonight after you stormed out?" asked Eriol  
  
"No, I just walked around, cooling off," Kaho replied, not looking him in the eye.  
  
"Liar, "he hissed.  
  
"What do you mean liar?" Kaho said getting angrier, afraid that she might be caught. She started stripping off her shirt, exposing her black lace bra.  
  
"I know what happened tonight with Brad," he said knowingly and Kaho stopped stripping the shirt.  
  
"I don't know what you're talking about," she said, turning away from him.  
  
Eriol cupped her chin with his hand, turning her face at him," Don't play stupid with me," he hissed," You know what you did," and he walked away.  
  
From downstairs, Nakura and Ray were screaming encouragements at the screen.  
  
Eriol opened up the drawers of their bedroom and dumped all Kaho's clothes into a suitcase in the closet.  
  
"I want you out of here," he said and handed her suitcase to her.  
  
"What about my stuff," she said as Eriol led her down the stairs towards the front door.  
  
"I'll send it to you when you get settled with your new boyfriend since he is such a better man then me," he said bitterly, being sarcastic.  
  
"But how did you find out?" she asked, right before Eriol pushed her out of the door.  
  
Before Eriol could answer, a voice said "From me," and Ray walked out, grinning from ear to ear.  
  
That was the last straw for Kaho and she lost it. She hated her for wrecking her relationship with the man she loved. Before Eriol could stop her, she sent a blast of fire at Ray. Ray got out of the way in time and the fire hit the wall, leaving s burn mark on the white walls. Ray, in response sent a bolt of pure electric like energy at Kaho. It hit her and it felt like someone had taken 100 flaming knifes and stuck them into her. She screamed.  
  
"That's for trying to hurt me," she said.  
  
She sent another round of it at Kaho amd Kaho fell to her knees in pain. "That's for hurting Eriol."  
  
Between the rounds of pain, Kaho managed to get out," Eriol, tell her to stop."  
  
Eriol was the only person who Ray would obey. Eriol shook his head no. He didn't like to see her getting hurt but the scene with her and Brad sleeping together kept flashing through his mind. Kaho crawled out of the door and Eriol threw her bag out the door with her and slammed the door in her face. Ray and Nakura high-fived. They would never have to see that bitch again. Kaho stared at the door in shock. She didn't believe that Eriol would have the guts to do that to her. She picked up her bag from the doorstep and started walking down the sidewalk. She walked through the crisp midnight air. She was in for an hour walk to a hotel that was on the other side of town, but she didn't give a damn. She'd live. The place where the Li clan was staying was down there and she had to get them the info that she had gathered.  
  
Nakura and Ray watched Kaho walk down the street from the window in great joy. Ray had always hated Kaho and Nakura didn't like Kaho for the simple reason of that she took up Eriol's time and money. They looked up from the window and noticed Eriol blue eyes staring at the door in longing.  
  
He looked like he had lost his best friend. He went up the stairs, silently and the girls looked on in worry. Suppi zoomed up the stairs in pursuit to confront his ailing master. After Suppi was out of ear range, Nakura faced Ray, a wild grin on her face.  
  
"Kaho deserves to pay for what she did to master Eriol. Let's go pay her a visit, shall we," she whispered, her voice displaying the anger she felt for the tall red headed beauty.  
  
"What did you have in mind?" Ray said, grinning right back.  
  
"Kaho is unfortunately more powerful then me, but she's not for you. I was thinking that we should go torture her, cause her some pain that would remind her of Eriol."  
  
"So use your and Suppi's attacks on her?"  
  
"Yeah, but Suppi would never go along with it so it's just us two. You have to do the job of Suppi."  
  
The two girls walked out of the door and Ray transformed into a white and black striped tiger with huge wings the length of the couch in Eriol's study. Nakura transformed into Ruby Moon, her long brown hair changing into red short in front, longer in back do', her brown eyes turning the color of her hair. She stretched her wings out and sat on Ray's back. She hated to fly in windy weather. Ray took off in the direction they had saw Kaho go in. They spotted Kaho three miles from the hotel the Li clan was in and they landed in a tree that she would be coming to a moment. Nakura slid off her back onto the skinny branch and Ray transformed into herself. She floated slightly in the air so that the branch didn't break from their combined weight. Kaho was getting closer to them and Ray closed her eyes in concretion. She opened her mouth and a beam appeared that was an exact replica of Suppi's except more painful. She let it rip and it hit Kaho full in the stomach. She kneeled over in serious pain and Nakura sent out her ice crystals, shredding Kaho's clothes, exposing her skin to the cold harsh nighttime air. Kaho looked up, armed with a spell, looking for whoever had hit her with the spell. All around her was silence, except for a small whirling sound that she heard above her. She looked up and a piece of paper floated down into her hands. She unfolded the letter and it read in red cursive letters:  
  
Death lies in your future  
  
It waits for you in the color red  
  
Kaho looked up and noticed a person in a bulky red jacket giving her strange looks. She broke out in a run, scared for her life. Nakura and ray cracked up from the place they sat and they headed back to Eriol's.  
  
Kaho walked up to the huge building and knocked on the door. She had finally arrived at the hotel the Li clan was in. They had bought the hotel several years ago when Syaoran had helped Sakura get the cards, but for what reason she didn't know. She knocked on the door once and it was opened by a butler-dressed dude' with a mustache.  
  
"What can I do to you?" he asked.  
  
"I'm here to see Brad," she heard herself say.  
  
The butler ushered her in and he pointed the way up to his room. Kaho walked through the halls cautiously. She had to make sure Syaoran or Meilin didn't see her. It would blow her cover. She knocked on his door and Brad opened it, dressed in a pair of green flannal boxers and a wife beater. She kissed him hard on the lips and slid her hands down the back of his thin short shirt, feeling his firm muscles from all the working out he did.  
  
"What are you doing here?" he asked, breaking away from her.  
  
"Eriol found out about us. It's over and i.."she flopped down on the bed,".am out of a house."  
  
"You can't stay here, baby," he said, sitting beside her and rubbing her back ever so lightly. "Syaoran will get suspicious."  
  
"I know," she said and sighed.  
  
"Remember the plan we made. It wouldn't work unless Syaoran isn't suspicious of you. If it works, we both get what we always wanted," he whispered excitably and then lightly nibbled on her ear.  
  
Kaho giggled, "That's why I came here. Eriol is hosting a little party next Friday night. Tell the clan about it. Sooner they move, the sooner we get what we need."  
  
"K," and Brad got a mischievous grin on his face," Do you want to spend the night?"  
  
"I'd thought you'd never ask."  
  
"Ok, I'll be there.bye," Sakura said into the phone. It was Monday night and Nakura had just called them with the details of the party. Eriol hadn't shown up to school because of his break-up with Kaho and Nakura wanted them to know as soon as possible.  
  
Sakura turned to Tomoyo who had cam over to study. Tomoyo was already off in her own world imaging all the creations that she would make her Sakura. Sakura sweat-dropped. She knew what was coming next.  
  
"Yo tomoyo..snap out of it," she said poking at Tomoyo's arm.  
  
Tomoyo snapped back to reality." Hey, do you have a date yet for it."  
  
"No, I just like got the call two seconds ago. I wanted to go with Yue but."  
  
"But what?"  
  
"Yue will never like me that way. It's hopeless," she said, saddened by the words that she spoke.  
  
"No you're not. How could he not love you. You're beautiful and cheerful and.," Tomoyo immediately shut up realizing that her secret might be found out. Thank god that Sakura was dense and won't figure it out.  
  
"Thanks Tomoyo. that's sweet, but lets face it he'll never like me," and Tomoyo and Sakura went out their homework. 


	9. Party!

Nakua hummed as she zoomed around through he store, handing package after package of stuff into Ray's outstretched hands. After all Nakura's classes at the college, she had zipped over to the mall. Ray had came along for the sole purpose of being the shopping cart, which really annoyed her.  
  
"What do you think about this," Nakura said, pressing a sweater to her chest. They were at a clothing store so Nakura could look for an outfit for the party.  
  
Ray could barely see over the pile of packages in her hands, but she could see them using her psychic abilities. "It looks fine, but green really isn't your color."  
  
"Point taken," and Nakura put the shirt back on the rack." Come on, let's go."  
  
Ray waddled down the stairs for the store they were in was two storied, nearly spilling the pile of food and decorations. She narrowly avoided dumping the entire pile and she followed Nakura out the door.  
  
The convertible that Eriol had lent the girls sat outside and they dumped the packages in the back seat.  
  
"Did you invite Touya and Yukito?" Ray asked as they cruised down the street.  
  
"Yeah, they both said they were coming," Nakura answered back, her long brown hair being whipped in the wind.  
  
"Good."  
  
Two young men sat in a tan colored room with the walls covered in pictures from the annual Sport Ilustrated swimsuit edition. The room was dimly lit, the only light being the lamp on the desk. Yukito sat on the floor doing his philosophy homework. He was studying to become a therapist for young kids. Touya was stretched out of his purple-sheeted bed doing some work on his report for his Japanese lit. Class. He was going to become a private investigator. Touya had always had hunches and an general understandment of thing he couldn't see or things he didn't know so he decided to put his talents to use.  
  
While Yuki was busy with his homework, Yue was off thinking about some spring-green eyed flower that was just down the hall from him. Ruby had been right about him being obsessed with Sakura. He was, he was sorry to admit. He had a hunch that Nakura would try to get him paired up with Sakura while at the party. He really didn't want her to interfere, but he knew it would be for the best. He was getting sick of watching Sakura from afar. He just wanted to tell her how he felt, but what if she didn't like him in that way? It would put a major strain on him protecting her from the coming dangers that were sure to come up in the future. But if he did tell her, he would be honest with her and himself. He wanted her so badly. He wanted to run his hands trough her silky hair, feel her luscious body against his own, wanted to feel..well we're not going to go there. Touya noticed the far away look in his own lovers eyes and put down his pen he had been writing with.  
  
"Yuki, can I talk to Yue for a second?" he asked.  
  
"Sure," said Yuki, confused why Touya wanted to see his alter ego, but he stood up and a pair of white wings surrounded him. The wings opened to reveal a long-haired boy dressed in a white robe, 2 wings attached to his back. Yue floated down to the ground and he made his wings disappeared.  
  
"Why do you wish to see me?" Yue asked, annoyed that Touya was interrupting his thoughts of his mistress.  
  
As like reading his mind Touya said," I want to ask you about Sakura."  
  
Yue looked at him in shock. Even though Touya had given his powers to Yue several years ago, Touya was extremely sharp, sharper then most people.  
  
"What do you want to know," Yue said mysteriously, his voice conveying no emotion.  
  
"Do you like my sister," Touya said putting it bluntly.  
  
Yue looked him in shock. He had no idea how to answer it. He was screwed either way. "You do ,don't you."  
  
Yue could do nothing but nod. Touya gave a triumphant grin and added," I knew it." He walked over to where Yue stood." So when are you going to tell her."  
  
"Soon," was all Yue said. Touya made sure that no one was outside the door and then looked up at Yue.  
  
"You have to tell her," said Touya, slamming his fist against the solid wood of his desk.  
  
"Why are so bent on getting us together?" asked Yue.  
  
"Syaoran is back in town. She was in love with him. That guy is a fucking bastard to her and she loved him and I think she still might. I trust you with her and I know that you would never hurt her, therefore I want you to be together."  
  
Yue raise his eyebrow in understandment and was going to make a comment when they heard a knock on the door and they jumped.  
  
"Come in," Touya shouted ,leaning on his desk.  
  
Sakura walked in , dressed in her pjs and her hamster slippers. She held in her hands a tray of food to give to Touya because Touya was busy studying while they ate dinner. She jumped slightly at the site of Yue sitting in Touya room. She managed not to scream and she blushed a nice crimson red. She was quite happy to see Yue and the feeling was mutual for Yue. They both were fiercely blushing and Touya smiled. "Thanks for the food.. buh bye," said touya and waved good-bye to her.  
  
"But why is Yue here?" she said as he ushered her out of the door.  
  
"Bye," he said and slammed the door in her face. Touya turned back to face Yue and they contuined their lovely conversation. Sakura walked back to her bedroom and collapsed on her bed in happiness. She got to see her beloved Yue. Kero zoomed over to her to check her temperature to make sure she was okay because her cheeks were so red.  
  
"Are you okay?" Kero asked, generally concerned about his master.  
  
"I'm fine. I got to see Yue," she squealed.  
  
Kero just rolled his eyes. Sakura and Yue were fools for not confessing their love for another. Both of them had told them about their crushes on anotherr but both had sworn him to secretly.  
  
Tomoyo zipped around her room, sewing up the perfect outfit for Sakura. She got out the black material that was to become the outfit and she pinned it and started sewing up the sides. Nakura and Ray watched through the looking glass. They were bored out of their minds and wanted something to do so they were spying on the lives on the ordinary people of the town.  
  
"That reminds me," she said as she stood up and shouted up the stairs," Eriol, can you make me an outfit for the party."  
  
Eriol ran down the stairs, nearly tripping on his own feet. "No, I don't have the time."  
  
"Come on, you have plenty of time," Nakura whined.  
  
"I'm sorry, but I have better things to do then to make you a dress or whatever that you'll only wear once," he said clamly.  
  
Nakura was about to burst into tears. She had never been said no to. Ray noticing her condition said," I'll do it."  
  
"Thank you," Nakura shouted and hugged Ray. She saw Eriol giving her a grateful smile form over Nakura's shoulder.  
  
Nakura broke the hug and looked Ray in the eyes, " Now this is what I wanted," she said and went into some long description of the outfit she wanted made to her and Ray took it all in, making notes in her mind.  
  
Brad stood before all the members of the clan, his elbows leaning on the podium that was in front of him. He was sweating like a pig out of nervousness. Him and Kaho had replayed what they were going to say for hours between their rounds of fun. He cleared his throat, leaning into the microphone, and the clan silenced.  
  
"Members of the clan, we all came here to get the cards and we now finally have a chance to get them. This Friday night, only 2 days away, we will have a chance at them. There will be a party at the mansion of Eriol's and Sakura and the cards will be there. I know as a fact that the human form of the tiger will also be present. WE can take down two of our biggest enemies at once. We shall go as a clan unitied to the front steps of the place and claim what is rightfully is ours. Now I ask you, do you want the cards," Brad screamed in excitement. Cheers of excitement and hope greeted his statement.  
  
"Now, your mission shall be lead by Syaoran, the future leader of our clan for he shall get the cards for us, now let's go give him a hand," Brad said, pasting a fake smile on his face. The clan now faced Syaoran, clapping. Syaoran burrowed his head into his hands. He was greatly surprised by Brad's acknowledgment that he was the rightful leader of the clan. He stared at Brad, trying to figure out if Brad was up to something or not. Brad gave a small grin and Syaoran relaxed. Brad was for real. Inwardly Brad grinned evily. All was going to plan for him and Kaho. The clan slowly filed out, buzzing about his speech and the coming attractions. He followed out and went to out the front door. He jogged a few blocks down to the nearest phone booth and let himself in. He slamed the door shut and punched in Kaho's home number. After one ring, she picked it up.  
  
"Hello," she spoke into the phone.  
  
"It's Brad. Just calling to infrom you that you were right. Syaoran and the rest of the clan did just what you predicted."  
  
"Great," she said unenthusiacally.  
  
"What's wrong?" he asked worried about her. Though he had only meet her last night, it seemed to him that he had known her forever. He had found a fellow person that was sick of helping people profit in life. Now everyone was going to pay for the taking advantage of people like them.  
  
"It's nothing. Just had a bad day at work. My boss was just being a jerk like always."  
  
"Oh," he said sympathetically." I'm sorry."  
  
"It's okay."  
  
"I have to get back to the hotel, they are going to get nervous about where I am so.I'll see you Friday night at your victory party when Syaoran is dead and we are the rulers of the clan."  
  
"Bye."  
  
"Bye," and Brad put down the phone. He noticed for the first time that the booth had fogged up, making it impossible for anyone to see anything. He smiled and walked towards the hotel.  
  
Come Friday night, Sakura stood in Tomoyo's portable dressing room that stood on the curb of the street that led to Eriol's house. She pulled the shirt that Tomoyo had made to her over her head and opened the double doors that led out. She jumped out and found Tomoyo's camera focused on her. She did a little spin to make Tomoyo happy to show off the outfit she had made. It was a new style that Tomoyo was experimenting and Sakura loved it. She wore a short sleeve belly shirt that was completely white except for a huge red bow that was on her chest. The shirt came about to the end of her bra.  
  
On her lower half, she wore a black skirt that resembled a tutu in the way it puffed out. It was extremely short with a gold thread V-pattern with a jewel where the lines meet. Sakura was pretty sure that Tomoyo had taken the idea of the design from a Sailor Moon magna, but she wasn't sure. Tomoyo was wearing a simple gold metallic tube topped dress that came about to her knees. They walked up to the front door and rang the doorbell. they could hear the sound of music raging inside and snow was falling fast. Eriol came to door dressed in a white wife-beater and a pair of cargo pants. He ushered them in and they put their coats in the closet. They could hear the sound of people screaming and yelling form out of the other room. Nakura came barreling out to them, wrapping them both up in a huge bear-hug. She released them and they looked at the outfit in shock that she was wearing. Ray had done her job well of making the outfit. She wore a orange gold creamy halter top and a pair of pants the same color. The pants and shirt sides were laced up completely in brown leather cord.  
  
"What's going on out there?" asked Sakura.  
  
"You see, Eriol bought us a karoke machine for the party?" Nakura said grinning.  
  
"Who's here?" yelled Tomoyo over the now increasing screams.  
  
"Touya, Yue, Rika, Chiharu, Naoko, Yamazaki and Kero. Everyone who invited is here. There's also me, Eriol, and Suppi."  
  
"Yue and Kero? Sakura questioned.  
  
"Yukito wasn't feeling well, but didn't want to deprive Yue of the experience so Yue came. Kero wanted to come because of the food. Anyway, everyone here knows about them so it really doesn't matter."  
  
"Is Ray here?"  
  
"Yeah, she's on the karoke machine."  
  
Nakura pointed the way towards the machine and Sakura and Tomoyo followed her hand. They walked in and saw her from the other side of the room. Ray was dressed a baby-blue wool string bikini top and a pair of guy's boxers with hearts decorated on them. They were shocked to how little she was wearing and the dance moves she did that would put Brittney to shame. Eriol watched their wide open mouth look in amusement. They weren't used to seeing Ray that way like he was. Ray worked at a bar as a stripper for the most part and she did dancing as a living. She was used to getting all the attention and the guys were getting a kick out of the little show she putting on including Yue . She finished up singing the song she was on and she stepped off the table and came over to where Sakura and Tomoyo stood.  
  
"Hey," she said as she grabbed a diet soda from the tray that Suppi was carrying around.  
  
Sakura was about to say hi back when she heard Nakura screaming," Let's play truth or dare."  
  
Eriol stopped the music and switched on the lights. They all gathered into the living rooma and they all sat down on the assorted couches and chairs or sat on the floor. Nakura got a empty bottle from the recycle bin and spun it around to decide who the dare or truth was for. The bottle landed on Chiharu and Nakura pouted. She knew really wanted it to land on Yue because she wanted him to admit his feelings for Sakura.  
  
"Truth or Dare?"  
  
"Truth."  
  
"Exactly how far has you and Yamazaki gone," Nakura said, grinning mischievously.  
  
"Uhhhh.," she said, a small blush creeping up her face .She was thinking about how to put it," Uhhh.all the way."  
  
Everyone laughed and made jokes about it and Chiharu burrowed her head into her knees. The game went on and finally after a half of hour playing, it was finally Nakura's turn again. She telepathically told Ray to make sure it stopped on Yue and she spun the bottle. Ray did what she was told and the bottle stopped on Yue.  
  
"Yue, you once told me that you loved somebody. Who was that person?"  
  
Yue blushed,a picture of Sakura coming to his mind. Sakura looked at him in interest. She didn't even know that he was capable of loving someone. Yue just remained silent, glaring at Nakura.  
  
"Come on, it' not that hard. Just tell us, we won't think any less about you?" she taunted.  
  
"Fine," he muttered, groaning." It's ."  
  
Just then a bell rang announcing the arrival of someone at the gates, asking to be let in.  
  
Nakura stood up and looked out the window. The Li clan had arrived. 


	10. Attack!

Nakura looked out the window in horror. There were masses of angry people standing outside the gate, all with magic abilities. She silently thanked the fates that when Eriol had bought the house, he had gotten one with an Iron Gate, making it impossible for anyone to get in.  
  
"What's wrong," asked Sakura, walking over to where Nakura stood.  
  
Nakura made a motion with her chin out the window and Sakura gasped. She had known from a dream the previous night that the Li clan would attack today from her mysterious double. She had, thank god, brought all the cards with her, so she wasn't helpless. But she was surprised to find an all-out attack.  
  
"They arrived, haven't they," said Eriol, still sitting on the floor.  
  
"How did you know?" asked Sakura, walking over to the staircase, which was in the room they were in.  
  
"Just did," he said shrugging. Truthfully Ray had told him about it before hand and knowing Ray, it was properly going to happen.  
  
Nakura walked over to the stairs and started walking up them, dragging her feet like she was going up them against her will.  
  
"Why are you going the stairs," asked a confused Sakura who was looking up the stairs.  
  
Nakura already had rounded the corner and she peeked her head over the banister. " The clan is trying to disengage the security system and when they get tired of that, they'll start burning up the fence because they can't decode the system. I'm going to go on the roof and show them my ice crystals," she said grinning at Suppi and the other guardians.  
  
Eriol's other guardian and Sakura's followed the grin and they bounded up the stairs to get even for the attack on Sakura so many years ago. Eriol and Sakura watched them go, hopeless. They couldn't convince them that hurting the clan would only make the situation worse. Sakura turned to face everyone that were left in the room and said authority," All you stay down here with Touya. I don't want anyone to you getting hurt," and her and Eriol ran up the stairs in pursuit of the enraged guardians. Ray waited until they had rounded the corner and she started walking up the stairs.  
  
"What the hell you doin," a voice said behind her.  
  
She spun around with a groan and saw Touya staring at her. "Going upstairs," she said annoyed she had been caught.  
  
"Did you just hear the speech Sakura just gave us. She told us to stay down here," he said, arms crossed in defience.  
  
Ray checked to make sure that no one was watching and she hopped down the stairs and before Touya could react she hit him on the forehead with her staff which had transformed from a red necklace in the shape of a tear-drop into a wooden staff with a ruby between two prongs. He dropped like a load of bricks and Ray caught him before he hit the ground. She dragged him unconscious body down the stairs and set his body so he was leaning on the wall. She bounced up the stairs and before she rounded the corner she whispered, " You never saw me go up the stairs," and she waved her staff in the direction of Touya and went around the corner. Touya awoke with a start with a pounding headache.  
  
Ray walked up the remainder of the stairs and walked into Eriol's bedroom. She found the window open and she climbed out, almost knocking her head on the window frame.  
  
"What are you doing," Ray was greeted by when she stepped out into the daylight. What she saw made her proud. Nakura and Yue were flying around shooting their ice crystals at the members of the clan and Kero and Suppi were doing the same with their breath attacks. The attacks weren't harming anyone because the clan had put up shields but they were majority annoying them. Syaoran yelled encouragement's to the people that were trying to scale the fence and the people who were trying to break the code to open the gates. Brad smiled at the site of Ray emerging and Ray slightly shuddered. Kaho had told him who she was. So far, Brad's plan was going to plan.  
  
Eriol had his staff out and was doing a reading on the gates. The clan had given up trying to find the code to open the gates and instead were throwing balls of fire at the gate, hoping to melt it. The fire, thank god, hadn't spreaded because it was melting the 10 inches of the snow and the water doused the flames.  
  
"We have to do something soon or the gate going to fall," Eriol said.  
  
"What can we do?" asked Sakura, having no clue what to do.  
  
Ray watched Sakura thought process and rolled her eyes. She wanted to so badly turn into the tiger and show them not to mess with the cards and Sakura. She looked to Eriol in a silent plea for him to let her attack. He shook his head no and Ray got an expression on her face like she wanted to murder him. She hung her in thought and she came from a sudden thought of brillence.  
  
"Hey, Sakura. Why don't you hit them on the ground with something," she hinted.  
  
Sakura was going to ask her what she meant when suddenly a hole appeared in the fence and Syaoran led the clan in a charge through the hole.  
  
"Just use Earthy, you stupid idiot," shouted Ray, loosing her temper.  
  
Sakura grabbed the deck of her cards from inside her sailor outfit and flipped through the deck in a hurry, sensing the urgency of the situation. She found earthy near the back and threw the card in front of her and twirled her wand expertly hitting the card in the center, releasing the sprit that was contained in it. A huge rock snake emerged and burrowed into the ground. The ground shook and several mountains of rock shot into the air, taking along several members of the clan. It was mass chaos at ground- zero and Sakura covered her ears with her hands so she didn't have to hear the screams. Ray watched the earthquake in satisfaction. They deserved what they got.  
  
Syaoran sent a gust of wind under his feet so he could float in the air avoiding the quake. His powers weren't great enough to get him on the roof where Sakura and cards were, but he was high enough to avoid the impending danger.  
  
"Stop it, Sakura. Call the card off and listen to me." He shouted.  
  
Sakura shouted for the card to stop and she faced Syaoran, her face a mask of fury." What do you want?"  
  
"I want the cards, that's what. The cards belong to us by blood right. Now give them here."  
  
Sakura was instantly remained of when they first meet." No, I won't. Kero gave me the task of collecting them so many years ago and unlike you, I passed the final judgement." She said defiantly. She instantly knew that she had struck a nerve with Syaoran.  
  
"Hand over to the cards," he shouted and he lunged at her, making careful not to fall off his air cloud. Sakura backed up away form him so he couldn't touch her.  
  
Kerberos stretched out his tounge lasily and prepared to send a fire ball at syaoran when Sakura held up her hand, singling him to stop. Kero growled in annoyance and looked at her.  
  
"Why won't you let me attack him?" he asked, questioning his master's judgment. Sakura had no answer to that. She didn't know why, all she knew that she didn't want to hurt him. Syaoran dove again at her and he this time connected, sending all the cards flying out of her hand spiraling to the ground. "Nooooo," shouted Sakura. Yue and all the others were preoccupied with hurting the clan. She prayed to the fates that the cards wouldn't fall into Syaoran's outstretched hands, who was waiting on the ground. Ray heard the plea form within her mind and was being shot by looks from Eriol. She concerted all her psychic abilities on the cards. She transported 2 of the cards from the falling stack into her hand and made sure no one was watching. Everyone was too busy to notice her. She pulled from behind her back the cards she had grabbed and hit the time card with her staff, which she had thoughtfully kept in her boxer's pocket. Everything went black and white and all was silent. She pulled the second card from her back and hit it again with her staff, willing the sprit within to emerge. Out came a girl around the same age as Ray with long white hair and gray eyes. In her hand , she held a small round mirror.  
  
"Mirror, I need to ask of a favor. Can you project my image and tell Sakura that you're me," Ray asked.  
  
Mirror nodded her thin face and closed her eyes, becoming a copy of Ray. She blushed seeing how little was worn and Ray jumped up on the part of the roof that was above them and unfroze time. All the color rushed back into the picture and Sakura looked at the cards, mouth open. Mirror kept silent, fearing for her fellow cards. Out of the blue jumped down a white and black majestic looking tiger with 2 gold tipped wings on it's back. It dove off the roof and landed several feet in front of Syaoran. The dimond marking on its forehead glowed and the cards gathered in a stack in front of its eyes. The tiger snorted through its nose, making a wind gust and the cards flew up to Sakura, falling into her outstretched hands.  
  
"Who are you?" she asked, looking below at the tiger in shocked amazement.  
  
"Who am I? Only the most powerful creature in the world," it boasted.  
  
Sakura tilt her head her head," You're sure cocky," she remarked.  
  
The tiger was going to say something when Syaoran got in the way, blocking her view of Sakura." How dare you you do that with the cards. Do you know who you're messing with? The almightly Li clan," he shouted at Ray.  
  
Ray raised one of the tiger's eyebrows in amusement." Almighty," she said snorting as she uncontrollably laughed. " That's a good one."  
  
Syaoran was starting to lose his temper." Why are you here?"  
  
"To prevent you from getting the cards, what else," she said sugary sweet. She moved so she was blocking him with getting on the roof.  
  
"Move out of the way," he growled.  
  
"And what if I don't." she taunted.  
  
Syaoran took his sword out of it's cover and swung the blade in a forward chop, barely missing the tiger's head.  
  
Ray dodged the blows he swung at her and looked around the crowd of the Li clan. She had to know something before she attacked him. She found Brad's face in the sea of people and saw a happy, almost blissful grin on his face. Everything was going to plan for him. Ray heard the thoguht in his head and realized that this was a set up. He knew that she would come and want to fight Syaoran to the death. Then he could kill her, get the cards and come leader of the clan. She roared in annoyance and it sent syaoran flying from a gust of wind had been created from her roar.  
  
Syaoran lay on his butt, his pride bruised.  
  
"Listen to me Syaoran. The cards don't belong to you, and they never will. Sakura is the one and only master of them. Killing her will not stop them from being hers. If you want the cards so much then why don't you just ask nicely for Sakura to make you a replica of them," she suggested in an obnoxious tone.  
  
"Uhhh," he ran his hand through his brown floppy hair," I never thought of that."  
  
Syaoran stood up and walked over to the wall just below the roof Sakura stood on. "Sakura, can you please make a copy of the cards?" he asked nicely.  
  
"Sure," she said and smiled at him. He smiled right back.  
  
"Now that wasn't too hard, was it?" Ray muttered under her breath.  
  
"Meet me at Burger King at 3:00 tomorrow and we'll discuss the details," Sakura said, still worried that he meet kill her, hence the public place.  
  
Ray saw that she wasn't needed and jumped onto the roof and was going to leave when something caught her eye. Brad stood in the background of the crowd, sulking. Ray had guessed his plan right. Syaoran was going to be head of the clan for sure now. He looked up and noticed Ray staring back at him and his eyes narrowed. If he wasn't going to get his way with the clan, then he was going to the do the next best thing. Take Ray a.k.a the tiger down. Kaho wanted to see her dead and so did he. She had caused enough trouble for them all. He rushed forward towards the roof and jumped onto the lowest one, a fire curse in his hand, ready to throw. Ray looked at him and concerted on her ability to create storms. A bolt of lightning fell from the sky, striking Brad who was in mid-air and he fell over 9 feet to the ground. A thin river of blood appeared in the snow, dying the snow red. Brad had a gaping wound on his head that had knocked him unconscious.  
  
"Ummm..can you get out of here?" asked Eriol, wanting his home back. Night was falling and he was sleepy.  
  
"Sure," and Syoaran and another guy picked up Brad and they walked out of the fence and into the vans that were parked down the street. Ray leapt into the air and hid behind a cloud as Sakura tried to find where she went. She made herself invisible then transported herself beside mirror. She sealed mirror and then turned visible. Sakura was too busy to notice her suddenly appearing. They all hustled inside, for the first time noticing the cold. Eriol made them all leave for he wanted to go to asleep. Ray was about to leave when Eriol placed his hand on Ray's shoulder. She shivered under its warmth. She could get used to this.  
  
"Stay," he whispered into her ear commandingly and Ray spun around, surprised. She rubbed her ear which itched form the warmth of his breath.  
  
"Nice job today. You were perfect. I couldn't do it any better." He said softly.  
  
Ray smiled, it was rarely ever that he praised her. She looked up at him expectantly. Maybe he would finally confess h is feelings for her!!! Nah, shouldn't think those things. He'll only love you as a friend and nothing else, she dismally thought to herself.  
  
"Anything else," she said, praying that he would say those magical three words.  
  
"Nothing else, you can go."  
  
Ray waited till outside to scream impatiently and Eriol grinned and started laughing. HE knew what she wanted to hear, his praises. But he didn't know how wrong he was.  
  
Sakura walked into a crowded Burger King late like always. She had to convince Kero not to sneak in her bag to protect her and also perks that went along with going to a fast food restaurant. She found Syaoran sitting in a booth, bumping his feet against the floor impatiently.  
  
"You're late," he remarked as she sat down.  
  
"Sorry, Kero wanted to come along and I had to convince him not to."  
  
"Oh, so when are you doing to do the cards," he asked as a waitress set down their trays.  
  
Sakura grabbed her burger and took a bite of it. Nice and juicy." I was thinking about doing it slowly like two or three a day so that I don't get worn out."  
  
"That makes sense," and he dipped his fries in ketchup.  
  
"So do you get to be the leader of the clan now?"  
  
"Yeah," and he was surprised to find Sakura had moved and was giving him a big hug" I'm so happy for you," she said as she pulled away.  
  
"Sakura, can you help me do something. The tiger you met yesterday, it killed my father. It has to die. Besides I think it wants the cards for itself."  
  
"I agree completely. The tiger was absolutely cruel to that one dude. I'll help you, besides if it wants the cards, it deserves to be killed."  
  
Syaoran flinched at her words and took his first bite of his whopper to calm his nerves.  
  
"I'd like to apologize for what happened all those years ago with me trying to kill you and all." He apologized. It seemed to him that the room had turned cooler.  
  
Sakura stood up, her face a mask of furry," You're sorry," she shouted, and people looked at her in concern but she didn't care  
  
"You put me through a night of hell and you expect me to forgive you. God." she continued.  
  
"Why can't you forgive me?" he asked calmly, seeming non-phased.  
  
"Oh, let' me see … it was only luck that someone, who I have no idea who it was, saved me. You killed a person thinking it was me. And …" she screamed and Syaoran put his hand over her mouth.  
  
"You're making a scene," he hissed.  
  
Sakura threw his hand off her mouth and said," I don't care," and she stormed out, slamming the door behind her.  
  
Syaoran just stared at the door in shock. At least they had agreed on something. The tiger was going down.  
  
Brad lay in his bed, drowning on his sorrow. His plan had gone down the drain. The tiger was too smart, it had figured out his pan before it was too late. He heard a shuffle of steps outside his roonm and he straightened up, groaning form the pain. He had bruised up his back really bad from his fall and he was majority sore. Kaho stood at his door, a tray of eggs and sausage on her hand. She walked over to him and set the tray down on his nightstand.  
  
"How are you feeling?" she asked, concerned about her lover.  
  
"Ok, I'm sorry we didn't get her?"  
  
"It's okay, but what now?"  
  
"Well after this, the tiger is going to go down. It embarrassed me in front of everyone. Umm, a new plan. Let me think.  
  
"What we will do is kill Sakura off before she can make the cards for Syaoran then kill off Syaoran and steal the Sakura cards. The tiger will also be disposed of. How does that sound?"  
  
"Just perfect." 


	11. Identitiy revealed

"So we're talkin and he said to take out the tiger which I agreed with then…," said Sakura, yacking like a manic about what had took place at Burger King. Ray, Sakura, and Eriol were over at Tomoyo's house, lying on the couches in her bedroom. Sakura was telling the details of the day and after Sakura had told the part of the tiger being killed, ray stopped listening. She was lost in her own thoughts. The one she protected with her life now wanted to kill her. It wasn't fair.  
  
Eriol interrupted Sakura's speech. "Sakura, normally you aren't so violent. Why do you want the tiger dead?"  
  
Sakura looked at him and said in an almost whisper," What I learned from the whole incident with Syaoran trying to kill me that whoever possesses the cards is the most powerful sorcerer. Syaoran wants it dead and I have to agree with him. It's powerful and it seems to take an interest in me. It has to want the cards, there is no other reason why it was there yesterday."  
  
Ray at that point lost her cool," Who said the tiger was evil? Who said it wanted the cards?" she said in her defense.  
  
"I just know ok, I have to eliminate all competition for the cards," Sakura said sighing dramatically.  
  
"Go Sakura," said Tomoyo, clapping her hands, then high-fiving Sakura.  
  
Eriol and Ray looked at each other in worry. This wasn't good.  
  
"You're totally blood-thirsty," Ray remarked.  
  
"Am not," Sakura yelled.  
  
"Are too, you want to be some big hero in front of the Li clan, admit it. If I didn't know better, I'd say you like Syaoran."  
  
"I do not."  
  
"I know you don't, but you're sure acting like it," and Ray stormed out of the room before she hurt someone.  
  
"What's her problem?" Sakura muttered and everyone shook their head in response to Ray's storming off.  
  
Ruby Moon flew to Tokyo tower in hopes of finding a certain moon guardian. She knew he had fond memories of this spot because that's where he had first meet sakura. Like expected, she found him sitting at the top, deep in thought. She flew down and folded her wings.  
  
"You shouldn't have asked me that," he remarked, not looking at her.  
  
"I'm sorry."  
  
Yue raised his eyebrow in surprise. She had never apologized to him ever.  
  
Nakura noticed the look on his face," Don't look too surprised, Yue. If she found out through Truth or Dare, she won't go out with you, but if you told her alone, I'm sure she would go out with ya."  
  
"She doesn't love me," he said, looking down at the ground.  
  
"What you mean she doesn't love you?"  
  
"I'll just be Old Faithful Yue who always saved her," he said, his tone of voice and pattern of speech reminding Nakura of Eyore from Winnie the Pooh. He stood up and shook the snow that had got on his wings and flew off. Nakura shook her head, both Sakura and Yue were fools.  
  
Syaoran walked around the inside of the hotel they were staying at, whistling. He was in a great mood. He had gotten off the phone with Sakura and he was going to go over there and have her make 2 cards from him. He was practically skipping down the halls. He came down the hall and went out into the poolroom and stripped off his long white pullover reveling his green swim trunks. He dived into the pool and started doing laps. He breaststroked to the other side and noticed Brad and some porky black dude with dread locks whispering in the corner. He got close to them as possible from the water and concerted all his senses on the conversation. He wasn't able to hear them but he saw Brad hand the guy a wad of money and the guy nodded his head listening to the plans Brad relayed to him. They looked up at him, realizing they were being watched, and Syaoran continued doing his laps. Brad and the guy left the room and Syaoran finished up his laps and stepped out the pool. He wrapped a pink flowery towel around his shoulder and walked out shivering from the change of temperature. He smiled remembering Sakura's face.  
  
"What ya smiling about," asked Meilin in a red one piece, walking down to the pool.  
  
"Nothin," he said, not able to keep the grin off his face.  
  
"You like her, don't ya,"  
  
"How did…how did you know," he stuttered.  
  
"It's obvious. You've been in love with her for years."  
  
"It is? I guess I like her." He said shrugging.  
  
"So, do something about it. You're seeing her tomorrow, right?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"See how things go then tell her how you feel."  
  
"It's not that easy."  
  
"Yes, it is and I'm going with you tomorrow," and Meilin walked down to the pool before Syaoran had a chance to argue.  
  
The bell tolled from within the clock tower announcing the time, 5:00 and Syaoran and Meilin stood on the Kinomoto doorstep. Meilin raised a thin hand to the door bell and rang it. The sound carried through the house and Sakura rushed to the door and flung it open.  
  
"Hey," she said and escorted them in. Kero flew down the stairs and sat on Sakura's shoulder protectfully. He showed off his teeth at the sight of Syaoran and Syaoran flinched, remembering how much it hurt when he was bit by him. Sakura showed them into the living room and they found Tomoyo, Eriol, and Ray sitting there. Tomoyo lept up and hugged them both, blushing when hugging Syaoran. Eriol said hi, but otherwise didn't move. Ray glared at them, mentally burning holes through their bodies. Eriol nudged her and she stopped glaring.  
  
Syoran and Meilin sat down on the couch and Sakura took out her star topped staff and spun it around in thought.  
  
"What card do you want me to make you?" she asked.  
  
Syaoran tilted his head in thought and then said," How about Flower and Bubbles, start with something easy."  
  
"Ok," and she concerted on the card powers and what the card looked like. She started with Flower since if she messed up, she won't get hurt. Sweat dripped down her face from the stress it was putting on her magic abilities. She groaned in pain form the loss of power and finally out of her staff came a green card with a girl with hair in swirly pinktails with a long puffy dress. Sakura laid down on the couch, catching her breath and after a few minutes of rest, did bubbles. She collapsed on the floor, exhausted and Kero flew down and fanned her with his wings.  
  
"Are you okay?" asked Ray, kneeling beside her.  
  
"Yeah," and Sakura tried to get up but wasn't capable of doing it. Ray helped her up and onto the couch.  
  
"Hey, Meilin. Tomoyo, Ray, and Eriol are spending the night here. Do you want to stay over?" Sakura asked.  
  
"Yeah sure, that sounds great."  
  
"What aboout me?" asked Syaoran, hurt that he wasn't invited.  
  
"You can't stay over because you're a guy."  
  
"But what about Eriol?" he whined.  
  
"Eriol is like family, that's why he's allowed to stay."  
  
"Ok," and Syaoran stood up somewhat mad because he wanted to spend some quality time with Sakura. "I'll be going now," he said, picking up the cards that Sakura had made for him and he walked to the door. "Meilin, do you want me to bring over your stuff?" he asked, hand on the door.  
  
"Nah, I really don't need anything?"  
  
"Ok," and he walked out the door.  
  
"We were in the middle of playing twister when you came, do you want to play with us?" offered Sakura.  
  
"Sure."  
  
The night had fallen and everyone was asleep. Sakura was standing in her room making the cards for syaoran. She had just finshed when she heard a knock on her window. She walked over to it and opened it and found her double floating on the air, waiting for her to open the window. Sakura screamed and her twin put her hand over Sakura's mouth to silence her.  
  
"Shhh, we don't want to wake Touya," she whispered and she removed her hand from Sakura's mouth.  
  
"What are you doing here," she hissed as her double stepped through the window and closed the window behind her.  
  
"I came here to warn you. It isn't over with the Li clan."  
  
"What do you mean? Syaoran doesn't want me dead," she said confused by what hr double meant.  
  
"Yes, he doesn't want you dead, far from that, but there are members of the clan that still want to see you taken down."  
  
"But why?"  
  
Her double shrugged," Don't ask me the reasoning of the clan."  
  
Sakura looked at her double and noticed for the first time that her double had the same cloudy gray eyes that the tiger had and it remained her of a question that she had for her all-knowing double.  
  
"Who is the tiger."  
  
Her gray-eyed double gave a predatory grin." If you want to know so you can kill her then I'm not telling you."  
  
"I don't want to kill her unless it really wants the cards. Now tell me who it is?"  
  
Just then she heard a crack of a window breaking and she spun around seeing shards of glass lying on the ground. "There's your answer," she whispered and Sakura woke up.  
  
She rolled over and looked at her window, seeing if it was broken like it was in the dream. She saw Ray standing by the window, surrounded in pieces of glass. She was about to say something when Ray jumped out the window, unaware that she was being watched. Sakura sprung out of bed and rushed to the window, looking out of it. She saw Ray falling to the ground and she watched as Ray landed softly on the ground, feet first. Sakura ran down the stairs and went out the front door, slamming it, waking everyone up. Meilin and Tomoyo woke up and noticing the glass, slipped on slippers and looked out the window. Sakura rounded the corner of the house and saw Ray and some dude circling another.  
  
"Move out of the way," the guy hissed. "I have a job to do."  
  
"Like I'd let you kill Sakura."  
  
The black guy with dreadlocks lunged at her and Ray jumped in the air, bringing her hands together then pulling then apart. A bolt of lightning formed between her hands and she released it at him. The guy crashed into the house waking whomever wasn't already awake and Ray landed on the ground in a squat. The guy brushed himself off and lunged at her transforming into a lion. Ray leapt up and turned into the tiger and barreled into him, fighting tooth and claw for control. Sakura gasped, that was why Ray was so in the favor of the tiger. Kero floated down to Sakura, fully transformed into a golden lion with jeweled amour. Ray gained the upper hand and leapt off him, sending a beam of red light at him, slaying him instantly. Sakura remembered the beam form somewhere but she couldn't place it. Kerberos leapt on the tiger pinning it to the ground. Then it occurred to her that it was the same light that had saved her from Syaoran's death spell. "Stop," she yelled to Kerberos then realized that Kero was floating 20 feet from Ray trapped in a ball of psychic energy so he couldn't attack. The tiger transformed into Ray and then using her staff, commaned him to transform into his stuffed animal form. She then released him.  
  
"You were the one who saved me that night in the park," Sakura remarked.  
  
"Yeppers."  
  
"But why?"  
  
Eriol walked out of the shadows of the house and said, " I can explain."  
  
Ray picked up the lifeless body of the guy sent to slay Sakura and calmly walked crossed the streets to the park where she could burn the body.  
  
Eriol sighed and began telling the story.  
  
Flashback  
  
Clow Reed sat in his bed, reading an old newspaper. He had just broke the news to Yue and Kerberos that he was going to die in a few days because he had a terminal cancer that was slowly killing him. They were off digesting the info and Clow was meanwhile making preparations for it. He had already enchanted himself so that he would be recarnated into two people and had already chose his heir, a girl by the name of Sakura Kinomoto. He put the newspaper down and drifted off to sleep. In the dream, he saw a young girl around the age of 11 with auburn hair and green emerald eyes walking hand in hand with a boy around the same age as her with brown wind blown hair and chocolate brown eyes. He instantly knew that he was his descendent and he watched closely at the interaction. He watched his descendent attack the his future hier with a girl with long black hair tied into two pinktails and red eyes the color of blood. They killed her with a card that contained death and then walked away laughing. The emerald-eyed beauty lay on the ground, bleeding to death. By the time Yue and Kerberos found her, she was dead. Clow could see anymore of his without being sick to his stomach and willed himself out of the dream. He awoke, his long black hair sticking to his sweat drenched face. He leaned over to his night stand and picked up his glasses. He put them on and stood up and walked to the other side of his bedroom where a seeing glass was located. He opened it up and spun his sun staff around chanting words so he could see what he desired. The seeing glass showed that Sakura would die at the age of 6 when the Li clan would attack her house and since no one in her family possessed magic she died. He shut off the seeing glass and walked over to a red velvet chair. He leaned back and thought about to make sure Sakura didn't die. Kerberos and Yue would be in the book when the first attack would occur and he had no idea how to prevent it.  
  
Just then he heard a knock at the front door and he walked over to it and opened it up. On his doorstep stood a thin baby with auburn hair and gray storm-like eyes wrapped in a blanket sitting in a basket. On the basked was a little note reading:…take care of my baby…  
  
Clow tore up the note and brought the baby in because it was storming out and the baby was gettting wet. The ink ran on the paper staining his hands blue and he sat the baby down the table. He go out his staff to do a spell to dry it off but when he spun it, it fell from his hand and came tumbling towards the baby's head. Instantly the baby's half closed eyes sprung open and turned the color of metal and the staff stopped three inchs from the baby's face, just floating in mid-air. The baby cooed and the staff came floating back to his hand and he looked at t he baby in amazement. So that was why it had been given to him. All the people in town thought as him as some wacko who lived in the country and thought him to have magical abilities. He looked closed at the baby and he noticed that how much it resembled his heir to the cards. An idea formed in his head and he looked around, making sure that Kerberos and Yue weren't near by. He took out his staff and opened the Clow book, which sat on the kitchen counter because he had used the Sweet card to spice up his cooking. He willed the cards to transform a bit of their power to the young girl and then added a few extras for the girl. He had learned much from the days of creating the guardians of the seal and he didn't have to make two forms for the girl. He created wings for her and a diamond marking on her forehead for when she transformed. He gave her the ability to shift shape so she could always watch over his heir and many other cool things. The baby, through his consent chanting just stared at him, with unspoken intelligence. The baby was a psychic and understood and knew many things that it wasn't willing to show because it would make her different. Clow collapsed into a chair, exhausted from transmitting almost all his power to the girl and the baby looked up at him in worry. A noise came from the back door and Clow jumped up.  
  
"We're home," shouted a deep roaring voice.  
  
Clow grabbed the baby and ran into his room to pretend to be deathly ill.  
  
"It's not safe for you to be around here," he whispered and he chanted a spell that would freeze the baby in time until a later day." I shall name you Stormy for you came on a stormy night in July and you have the eyes of one," he whispered to the babe as it slipped into time.  
  
"Clow arranged for the baby to be born almost seven moths after you so you would be the same age. She was put in an orphanage. Ray was born with the instinct to seek me out and find the heir of the cards. She accidentally discovered her powers when she was four years old when she lost her temper and sent a knife flying into a girl's heart. She ran away and eventually found me and she helped me create Nakura and Suppi. She then devoted her life to protecting you. She is my best friend. She's not evil."  
  
"But isn't she evil if she kills people?" asked Sakura.  
  
"No. Some people when they are little remember their first birthday party or something sweet like that. Ray's first memory was killing someone."  
  
"But that doesn't make it right?" Tomoyo shouted, standing on the doorstep, letting all the cold air into the warm house.  
  
"NO it doesn't. But Ray only kills those who would kill you," he said calmly.  
  
"But she killed Syaoran's father," Sakura shouted as they walked back into the house.  
  
Eriol sighed as they slammed the door behind them," She didn't kill him. He never attacked her or you so she didn't hurt him. One of the attacks that was directed at Ray hit him and that's what killed him. She tried to save him but she didn't have the ability yet to heal the injuries he had sustained.'"  
  
Just then the door opened and Ray walked in, clothes smelling like burnt flesh.  
  
"Do I want to know what you just did?" asked Sakura.  
  
"No you don't," and Ray opened a jar she had in her hand and dumped it into the trash can.  
  
"Ray, can I talk to you for a second?"  
  
"Sure," and Ray followed Sakura into the kitchen. Ray hopped onto the counter and faced Sakura. " So what's up."  
  
"I have a question. Did you save me that night with Syaoran trying to kill me?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Who was the person who died."  
  
"Me."  
  
"How can that be."  
  
Ray sighed and brought her knees to her chest, hugging them. She stirred nervously and ran her hand through her almost red hair. "I transformed into you then ran in front of him. The blast of lightning never hit me, it was just an illusion to fool him. I pretended to trip over the root and froze the flames before they hit me. I then projected an image of a burned body."  
  
"So that's why there was no burn marks on the ground," a voice remarked from outside of the room. A blur of yellow fur floated into the room and settled down on Sakura's shoulder.  
  
Ray nodded," So you're the one who saved Sakura from everything that day from cutting the ropes to helping her dodge Syaoran's attacks to pretending the die so that Sakura could live a few years of her life worry free," Kero said grinning up at the small petite girl.  
  
"Yeah," she said cautiously. Kero launched himself at the girl and hugged her with his fat chubby stuffed animal arms. He hugged her around her neck, burrowing under its warmth." Thank you so much," he whispered, tears streaming down his face. For one so small he sure cried a lot, drenching Ray's cow spotted tank top. Ray took it all in and held the small creature as he sobbed in joy. He hadn't crying so much since Clow had died and that had been a rare occasion.  
  
"Kero, why are you crying," Ray aske after Kero was done with the worst of his sobbing.  
  
"Because Sakura is alive because of you and you devoted your entire life to protecting her, it's so sappy," he exclaimed.  
  
Ray stared at him in disbelief. She didn't know what to say to that and everyone cracked up.  
  
Touya walked into the room, dressed in only a pair of boxers with a lips on them and glared at them for waking him up.  
  
"What the hell is goin on," he yelled, his mud colored eyes half closed from just waking up. He looked around the room, seeing for the first time what Ray looked for and he gasped.  
  
Flashback  
  
A 12-year-old Touya walked down the hall, a baseball bat in his hands. He had heard a noise in the house and he had heard a bump in Sakura's room. Sakura was a deep-sleeper and once asleep, never moved. He opened the door and found a girl resembling Sakura with soulful gray eyes and dressed in a black bra with a black see through shirt over it with a pair of tight patchwork jeans. She looked up at him and he noticed she had a glow to her making him think she was a ghost. She stood over Sakura, her hands over her chest. Sakura was covered in blood from head to toe. The girl didn't know he was watching her and he was about to swing the bat at her when somebody stopped it. Touya's mom stood holding the bat and she motioned for him to leave. His mother would never leave Sakura in danger so he reluctantly left the room.  
  
Ray finshed explaining it all to them and Touya looked at her in wonderment. "Were you healing her that night?" he asked.  
  
"Yeah, and it's getting late and I want to sleep so….buh bye," and Ray walked up the stairs and collapsed on the floor of Sakura's room.` 


	12. Decisions made bout' love

A huge yellow and red orb rose into the sky, welcoming the new day. Ray stood by the window taking it all in. The beginning of a new day was special for her and she, every morning , prayed when the sun rise. Something stirring from behind her and she looked at it. Eriol had woken up. He slowly got up and walked over to where Ray stood.  
  
"Good Morning," he said yawning.  
  
"Mornin," she said still staring out the window.  
  
"I have a question. Did you mean for Sakura to know about you?"  
  
"What do you think?" she said half flirting.  
  
Eriol looked at her, trying to make up his mind. Ray always knew when someone is coming because of her enhanced senses so she must have known that Sakura was watching her. HE grinned at her and Ray shuddered. He had something up his sleeve.  
  
"Ray, I have a question. Do you like anyone?" he said, trying to gather up his courage to ask her out. It might have been the full moon last night or something like that but he felt a desire to know if she loved him or not.  
  
"Why do you ask?" Ray asked, avoiding the question.  
  
"Because."  
  
"Because why?" she said, eyebrows raised.  
  
Eriol groaned. She wasn't making this easy for him. He was slowly loosing his entire cool. He couldn't tell her. He would be making a fool out of himself. Well, actions speak louder then words so…he thought to himself and he pulled Ray to him, following his inner voice. Ray looked at him, her gray eyes wide in shock and he whispered," because I…" Just then someone moved and they broke apart, embarrassed. Sakura stood up, raising her hands into the air, stretching.  
  
"Morning," she said, unaware what she had just broken up.  
  
Ray sat down on the windowsill in confusement. What was Eriol going to say to her? What did this all mean? She burrowed her head into her knees. She was so used to being in control of things, but now…she had no control over anything.  
  
Brad stood in an abandoned mine shoveling through the coal, Kaho, a few feet from him, doing the same thing. They had gotten the news that the person they had sent to kill the tiger and Sakura had been killed. They wanted to get even but this time they were going to do it this time by themselves. They couldn't trust anyone else to do it. They were digging through the mines looking for a legendary crystal that was supposed to be here. They had been digging for three hours straight and were exhausted, but they still pushed on. The crystal was said to make you the world most powerful sorcerer. It was created by an evil sorcerer to help out the future baddies with their conquest of taking over the world. The crystal was divided into 2 parts from the evil sorcerer's rival so that no one could ever find it and harness its power. They had found the first half in the Li clan magical item chest and were avidly trying to get the second. The tiger was too powerful to take on without it. Kaho was shoveling the dirt when she came to something hard. She quickly dropped her shovel and dug with her hands. She pulled a chest out of the ground and using her powers opened it and there lay a harmless looking yellow diamond. She pulled it out and hollered in joy. They had found the second half. Brad rushed over to him and he picked her up and spun her around. He planted a soft kiss on her forehead and they both grinned evilly. All was going to plan.  
  
Ray leapt into the sky, her golden tipped wings fluttering behind her. It was nightfall and the full moon shined over the sky, making it easy for her to see. She flew down to a house near the Kinomoto residence and willed her wings to disappear. She knocked on the door and the door was flung open and Yukito stood inside. He escorted her in and Ray took off her coat and sat down on the blue couch.  
  
"Why did you ask me to come here?" Ray asked.  
  
"Yue wanted to talk to you."  
  
"O, ok."  
  
Yukito closed his eyes and a pair of wings surrounded him reveling a tall guy with waist length white hair and silver cat like eyes.  
  
Yue walked over to her and walked around the couch, taking in the small girl in.  
  
"I'd like to say thank you for saving Sakura so many times."  
  
Ray smiled up at the tall moon guardian. "Hey thanks," she replied.  
  
"I have an question, Yue. Do you like Sakura?"  
  
Yue sighed and was going to lie when he looked in her eyes of the girl and saw unspoken intelligence." Yeah," he admitted.  
  
"Thought so," she said happy bout him finally realizing admitting to his feelings. " Why don't you tell her?"  
  
"Because I can't."  
  
"Why not?" she said defiantly  
  
"You wouldn't understand."  
  
"Try me."  
  
"She loves Syaoran. I can see it in her eyes."  
  
"How do you know?" she said, eyebrows raised in boredom form him trying to find every excuse in the book for not admitting his feelings.  
  
"Just do."  
  
"How do you know, if you never ask?" she pointed out.  
  
"I want Sakura to be happy," he said avoiding answering that question.  
  
"Look you have two choices, Yue. You can either go to Syaoran and beg him to go out with Sakura or you can just go over to Sakura's and admit your feelings for her. If you think so much about Skaura being happy then go do one of those things."  
  
Yue stared at her. She was right. He stood up and calmly walked over to the door. He swung it open and stepped out and jumped into the air and flew away. Ray watched him go smiling and slammed the door behind her.  
  
  
  
A/N Sorry this is so short. I had to leave you people with a cliffhanger (grins evily). Only a few chapters left. Yipppppppeeeee 


	13. Lovey Dovey

Yippppeeee, reached the 50 review mark. Thanks to all who reviewed. When you reach the end,d on't flame me. Roll with me people. It will get better, I guarantee. Thanks to shireoki for making me a better writer, Sakura-chan for being a great friend, butterfly_grl4 for making me put out 3 chapters in a weekend, lol, Darklight and Dumanguena for cracking me up and all the constant people who review like Jadewing. Manda-chan, Kero-Suppi, Sakura child, and Riley S. I properly forgot people so if I forgot you I'm real sorry. Please review, I love them and read everyone. Your input matters and I like to thank DevilsDarling all that time back when you reviewed for giving me an awesome idea. Thanks  
  
  
  
  
  
Yue flew through the wind, dragging his wings behind him. He was dreading what he now had to do. Actually he wasn't really dreading it because if Ray was right, Sakura had feeling for him, but what if she had been wrong? What if she didn't like him? It'd screw up everything. He hung his head in shame and wrapped his floor-length around his body like a security blanket. He flew and came to Sakura's house. On the roof he landed like a cat, almost silent except for the patter of his feet landing. He floated down so he even with her window and looked in to see what his beloved Sakura was doing. She was sitting by her desk, deep in thought. From the look of concretion on her face, she must being doing her math homework. He knocked on the window and Sakura head shot up and jumped back in shock at seeing Yue standing by her window. She quickly recovered and opened the window and Yue walked in, banishing his wings.  
  
"What are you doin' here?" she asked, closing the window so her room didn't get cold.  
  
"I need to talk to you."  
  
"Bout' what?"  
  
Yue made a motion for her to sit on her bed and she abruptly sat down. Yue didn't know how to ask her to find out the answer he seeked. Sakura, noticing his discomfort, took his hands in her own," Is it something real personal."  
  
Yue could only nod his head, lost in her spring-green eyes. He built up the courage from within himself and took a deep breath, closing his eyes. He couldn't tell her. He didn't have the guts to but…maybe…what was the saying, actions speak louder then words? It gave him an idea and he leaned over and kissed Sakura softly on the lips. He pulled back and Sakura looked at him in surprise. Yue searched her eyes for any sense of acceeption or objection, hoping that she had wanted that as much as he had. She hated it, and he couldn't stand being embarrassed any longer. He stood up and brushed himself off and said," I must be going," and opened the window so he could leave. This was so painful being humilitied like this.  
  
"Yue, wait," Sakura whined from the bed. She stood up and crossed the room. Yue turned around," Yeah."  
  
"I want to give you somethin'."  
  
"Sure, what?"  
  
"This," and leaned upwards for Yue was still a lot taller then her and kissed him on the lips.  
  
"Does that answer your question?" she asked as she pulled back.  
  
"Yep," he replied still in shock form finding out that his mistress was in love with him. He pulled her closer to him and traced her jawbone with his finger.  
  
"How did I ever deserve you," he muttered, brushing a lock of hair of her golden hair out of the way of her lips. He pressed his mouth to hers and kissed her hungrily. Sakura answered back, releasing al her pent up emotions for him. It felt to her that every nerve and cell was on fire, with sudden electricity. Yue hands roamed aroud her body, playing with the buttons on the end of her button-up plaid jacket. They were so engrossed in their kissing that they didn't notice somebody enter the room. Touya stood by the door, smirking."Am I interrupting something?" he said.  
  
Yue and Sakura jumped apart, both blushing as bright as the fire hydrant down the street. Sakura selfconisly began buttoning her jacket, which had been almost unbuttoned to her pink silk bra, and Yue brushed out the wrinkles in his white uniform. "No, you weren't interrupting anything." Sakura answered, knowing very well that Touya had seen a eyeful.  
  
"Right," and he left the room. As he walked down the wooden hall, he smiled. It could be worst. She could be going out with the chinese gaki!  
  
After Touya leaving, both sighed a breath of relief.  
  
"I better be going, Touya is about to kill me."  
  
"Ok," and she opened the window and Yue flew out, grinning like a drunken idiot.  
  
Immendaitly when Yue was out of ear shot, she started dancing around the room chanting," I just got my first kiss, I just got my first kiss, I just…"  
  
"Can you shut up already. Some of us are trying to sleep," shouted a voice from within her desk drawer.  
  
"Sorry," she apologized.  
  
"It's okay." Kero said from inside the drawer. He smiled. His little baby was growing up so fast.  
  
Kero could swear he heard the yells of joy form all the way from downtown that seemed to sound like Nakura's and Ray's. What he didn't know that they were sitting on the roof with Eriol and Suppi.  
  
"Nice job,"was only Eriol's only response and Ray grinned in pride. She had done her job well.  
  
School started back up the next morning and Sakura, for once in her life woke up early. Her brother was shocked, she remembered with a grin. Her brother was cool with her going out with yue, which made her so happy. She skated down a white concrete ally and saw Ray, Eriol and Tomoyo like always waiting for her by the school entrance. The first thing Tomoyo noticed about sakura was how radiant she seemed to be today and how up-beat she was. "What's made you so happy today?"  
  
"Nothin," Sakura said, hiding her grin behind her hand. Ray and Eriol gave her an almost identical all knowing grin and Sakura sweat-dropped." Do you two know?" she asked.  
  
"Like, duh. Why do you think he went over their in the first place? From my nagging," Ray exclaimed  
  
"Hold on for a sec…what are you talking about?"  
  
Before Sakura could answer, Ray blurted out," Yue finally admitted his feelings for Sakura last night."  
  
"Oh my god. That so great," she exclaimed and hugged Sakura and spun her around in her joy. If she couldn't be the one to love sakura, then he would be second choice. Ray leaned over to Eriol and whispered in his ear," What do you think Syaoran is going to feel abou this?" she grinned evilly at the thought of it.  
  
Brad stood on the ground, watching a house go up in flames as he threw fire after fire curse at it. Kaho stood by his side helping him out.  
  
"This is so much fun. Sure beats watching tv at my place, huh," he shouted over the hissing of the flames melting steel.  
  
He saw Kaho nod and he made a motion to leave the house and get away from the heat. He whipped his forehead with his shirt and sat down on a picnic bench in the park where they were sending curses over the stone wall at the houses on the road.  
  
"Are you sure they'll come?" Kaho asked.  
  
"Postive, they'll think something is up and they'll come down here to check it out."  
  
"Ok."  
  
Sakura pulled a tank top over her head, getting changed to go on a date with Yue. She had gotten the message from her brother and he was waiting downstairs for her. Sakura reached for the button to turn off her tv when a picture they had in the top right hand corner stopped her. It showed a picture of house after house burning up. She put down the remote and listened in. It appeared that someone had set all the fires and they were all out because of the fire crews laboring. She clicked the button to shut off the tv and bounded downstairs. Yue's jaw nearly dropped to the ground when he saw her. She was dressed in a black spaghetti strapped tank top that had the Clow symbol on it painted in gold and to accessorize with the shirt she wore a shinny gold asymmetrical skirt that came down to her knees. Tomoyo and Ray had worked together to make the out-fit and both were pleased how it turned out.  
  
"Are we ready to go," asked Yue, being the perfect gentlemen.  
  
"Yue , can you do me a favor. You see, there are these fires that have mysteriously popping up all day and I need to check them out, somethin' isn't right."  
  
"Ok," he said, down in the dumps because their date had been basically cancelled.  
  
"I'm sorry. After we cheak it out, we can go."  
  
Kero transformed into Kerberos, the golden eyed lion and Yue and Kero followed her out the door. She sent out the card with a winged bird on it and two wings spread around her and she leapt into the air. They flew silently flew through the air and came to the neighborhood where the houses were in and landed. On a picnic table about five feet from the stone wall sat Brad and Kaho, patiently waiting for them. They stood up and fingered the yellow dimonds around their necks.  
  
"What are you doing here?" asked Sakura, dense as always.  
  
"We want the cards. I am sick of helping you out and getting no credit for it. Because of me, you were able to collect all the cards and be the mistress of them. And do I get a thank you, no, all I get is the supposed joy of you becoming the master," Kaho yelled. Braad put a reasurring hand on her shoulder and added," We came to get the cards and kill you all," laughing like the evil maniac he was.  
  
Kaho sent a bombardment of wooden stakes she had created out of thin air at Kerberos, injuring his wings and pinning him against the tree. Hee growled angrily and sent a fireball flying towards her and groaned from pain from the splinters sticking into his fur. The fireball streamed through the air in a trail of light and bounced off a shield that Brad had put up around them. Brad grinned, not feeling any pain and closed is eyes. He created a fireball in the palm of his hand, bigger then Kero's just to show off, and sent it flying at Yue. Yue leapt into the air, grabbing Sakura and flew up and sent his ice crystals at him. Brad held up his hand and a yellow plexi- glass formed in front of him. The Crystals hit against slowly breaking it. It finally broke into pieces and once the pieces hit the ground they disapeared and Brad fell down from the on-slaught. Kaho made a bow and arrow out of her power and aimed it at a soaring Yue. She let the arrow fly and it crashed into Yue sending him spiraling to the ground. He wrapped himself around so Sakura didn't get hurt and the landed on the ground with a plunk.  
  
"Thanks," said Sakura, brushing the dirt off her skirt and smiled at her lover. She gave him a quick peck on the cheek and went off to get even with Kaho and Brad for hurting her boyfriend.  
  
Ray sat up with a bolt, making everyone jump in the room and spilling the popcorn that sat between her and Eriol that they were sharing. Eriol and his guardians and Ray were lounging around the house watching a movie called Charlie's Angels which the girls were getting a kick out of.  
  
"What's wrong?" Eriol asked, hitting the remote off the pause the video.  
  
"Sakura's in trouble," she simply put and they ran outside, leaving the movie running. Eriol got on the now transformed Suppi back and they flew toward the park where Ray was sensing the distress form.  
  
Meanwhile, the battle was taking a turn for the worst. Yue and Kero were all pinned to the ground from the dark demons that they had created using the crystals. Sakura was trying her best, but unfortunately failing miserably. She was barely leaving a scratch on the power high duo.  
  
"Yo, Sakura, need some help," shouted a voice from behind the stone wall on the other side.  
  
Sakura looked up and took her eyes off the people attempting to kill her. Kaho and Brad noticing the opportunity shot identical lightning bolts at her, which immediately struck her down. Everyone yelled her name and Yue kicked the shadow creature off him and ran to his beloved's side. He pressed two fingers to her neck , checking for a pulse, anything. But there was none. Sakura was dead. 


	14. Sacrifices

For all you people who reviewed who were Syaoran and Sakura shippers, please continue to read my fic. Just because you don't like a certain pairing doesn't mean you should stop reading. Sure, it's Sakura dn Yue for now but who said it was going to stay that way?( evil grin) have fun reading  
  
  
  
Yue looked up at Kero, confirming their worst fears. Tears formed his eyes and a tear fell on Sakura's dead body and he clutched her shoulders, shaking her calling out her name, praying that she would wake up. Kero threw off his shadow figure and rushed over To Sakura and licked her soft peachy skin, hoping that it would awaken her form her unconscious faze, but they had no such luck. Kaho and Brad smiled. They had succeeded. The sky clouded over, hiding the moon and Yue and Kero felt a drop in their powers. A huge flash of lightning soared through the sky and Yue looked up from Sakura. Ray stood on the stone wall, her eyes closed in concretion as the thunder she had caused form her anger at them, her hand raised. The thunder crashed around her and her eyes sprung open, a fire blazing in them. She jumped off the wall and began walking ever so slowly towards them. With every step she took, the storm intensified. Kaho and Brad looked at her surprised. They thought she would directly attack them. They sent wave after wave of attacks at her, but it didn't seem to faze her. She kept just walking. It appeared that her body couldn't hold the anger she felt towards them, and her body seemed to bath in warm orange glow. When she got to about twenty feet from them she pulled off her necklace and muttered the incarnation to open it. She spun the staff above her head and transformed into her favorite weapon of all, a knife. She stopped strolling towards them and grinned predatory," You killed her. You deserve to die. I will not kill you painlessly like you killed her but the most painful way I know how," and she leapt at Kaho who's bolt of lightning had ultimately killed Sakura and they fell to the ground. Ray got the upper-hand and stood up and shoved her knife into Kaho's chest in a fit of rage. She pressed her foot to Kaho's throat and pulled the knife out of her. Blood gushed all around Kaho, staining Ray's hands and the white pjs that she wore. Kaho fell to the ground, moaning in pain and Ray faced Brad. Brad looked up at her scared, seeing if she had remorse for the sin she had just committed. He saw none, just pure hatred and madness. He bolted, streaking across the grass, in a desperate run for his life. Ray watched him go and simply threw her blood soaked knife, hitting him in the back, slaying him instantly. She walked over to his dead body and ever so graciously pulled the knife out of him and whipped it out the grass and stuck it in her pocket. Kero and Yue ahd destroyed the dark figures and all was calm. Tomoyo had filmed the whole event and remarked in shock," You killed somebody."  
  
"So.." Ray answered deeply hurt by the death of her friend. she kneeled by Sakura's side and cryed freely. She had failed. It was her job to protect Sakura. She picked up the dead weight of Sakura and started walking towards the Kinomoto house.  
  
"Where are you going," called Eriol, unfallen tears in his eyes.  
  
"Off to tell Touya and the rest the awful news," she replied and kept on walking.  
  
Ray's leaving passed away the shock of seeing someone dieing and they all started sobbing, with the exception of Yue. Yue just wistfully looked at the spot where his beloved had fallen and tried to cry, but the tears won't come.  
  
"Can you save her?" asked Nakura.  
  
"No," was Ray's only reply as she walked away  
  
Several days passed, and everyone in the town was informed of Kinomoto Sakura's dead. Almost everyone showed up at the funeral service for she had touched many lives deeply. All that remained were the people were there the night she had fallen.  
  
"I can't believe she's gone," whiled Tomoyo, for once in her life, separated from her beloved camera.  
  
Meilin hugged her and they both wept for their friend's loss. Slowly, people filed out, leaving only Eriol and Ray standing at the alter, by her opened casket. Ray ran her hand down the shiney polished wooden casket and peered in at Sakura. She lay hands on her stomach dressed in lilac dress with white lining and a bow at the waist. Tomoyo had made it for Sakura's next date with Yue. Yue wasn't handling it well and had basically boarded up the house and sat staring at the wall, remembering his mistress and lover.  
  
"It's a tragedy that she died so young," Ray remarked after a long silence.  
  
For some odd reason, the comment struck a nerve with Eriol," She would have never died if you hadn't spoken up," he muttered.  
  
"I didn't say a single word," said Ray on the defense.  
  
"You did too."  
  
"Are you blaming me for Sakura's death?"  
  
"Yeah I am. If it hadn't been for you, she would still be alive today," he yelled, his voice echoing through the empty steeple.  
  
Ray was going to speak when Eriol interupted her," You always play God, saying who dies and lives. So why not 3 days ago? I wish Sakura was alive and not you," he shouted and stomped out.  
  
Ray fell to her knees in despair. She didn't shout out anything. She hated being yelled at by him because she loved him with all her heart and since she was little, fantasized about him finally saying those three magical words. Maybe he was right, she had killed Sakura. She had the chance to save her and now she was dead because of her.  
  
"You have a choice about that," called a voice from behind the pews. Ray turned around. At the back of the steeple stood a pale thin boy with jet black hair the color of the shadows and tawny brown eyes that displayed great intelligence. He was dressed in a black trench coat that came down to his black work boots. He walked down the red carpet aisle and stood in front of ray.  
  
Ray checked out his aura and remarked," You are a wizard."  
  
"Sure, and you aren't."  
  
"What do you want?" she said not in a mood to hurt the guy.  
  
"You don't have the power to reverse death, right?"  
  
"Right," she said confused about where he was going with this.  
  
"I do, this crystal in my hand," he displayed a black quartz in the shape of a crystal," It has the ability to make a spirt return to a body or create a new body for a spirit to inhabit."  
  
"So…"  
  
"In exchange for your death, I will reverse the effects and let Sakura live."  
  
"Ok," she said, unsure whatever she should take the guy's offer.  
  
"Think about it and whisper my name three times and say this spell," and he handed her a gold script of paper and he walked to the door.  
  
"Say what is your name?" she shouted out as he opened the door to leave.  
  
"Mamoru," he said and walked out.  
  
It was dark around the church and a hole was being dug in the ground for Sakura's casket. Eriol and crew were in the church, waiting for the hole to be dug so they could say their last good-byes. The casket sat closed in the back of the church and a thin figure jumped thorugh the window onto the casket. She jumped down and set up an ouija board on it.  
  
"I'd like to talk to Sakura," she shouted to the air. The counter stood silent then moved to spell out H I  
  
"Hey, do you like being dead?"  
  
"I T S O K A Y I G E T T O S E E M Y M O M.  
  
"If you would have a choice to be alive again would you take it."  
  
"Y E P" then the board started up again.  
  
"H O W I S Y U E."  
  
"Not doin' well without you."  
  
Ray could hear the sound of people chattering coming closer to the body. They have come to get the body. She had to do the spell soon while she had a chance. She said "Bye," to the board and put it in its box. She whispered "Mamoru". A voice whispered to her asking if she knew the consequences .She said yes and said it a second time. She said it a third time, sure of what she was doing, and unrolled the scroll. She read off the words  
  
Not young enough to love as yet  
  
But old enough to die indeed  
  
Revive the life before me and  
  
Accept my gift of equal worth  
  
The air went cold, giving an aura of magic around the church. Eriol rushed to the back room, and found a confused Sakura sitting up dazed and a dead Ray spawled out of the ground.  
  
Eriol rushed over and his worst fears were confirmed. She was dead. He never got to say that he loved her. Syaoran stroaked Sakura's silky hair, happy she was alive again. Eriol picked up the gold paper off the floor and read it and realized what it meant. She had sacrificed herself so Sakua could live. She was playing God, just like he had told her to do. He noticed a pen scratch of the name Mamoru and his stomach did flip-flops. Mamoru was a powerful wizard that lived in the states that was an equal to Ray in power.  
  
"What am I doing here?" asked Sakura, noticing she was in a coffin.  
  
"You died," Syaoran muttered, pushing Sakura's hair out of her eyes.  
  
"I did?"  
  
"Ray killed herself to save you," Eriol simply put and Sakura was too sleepy to argue and fell asleep leaning on Syaoran.  
  
Eriol picked up Ray's body and brought it outside and set it on fire.  
  
"Why are you doin' that," asked Touya.  
  
"Ray didn't want to be buried underground. She's claustrophobic."  
  
"Oh."  
  
The body was burned to ashs and Eriol left the ashs laying in the churchyard and started home. He needed to think and cry alone. 


	15. Dreams and impulsive desisions

Eriol was walking down a sidewalk on a pathway where Sakura trees lined it. The entire sidewalk was littered in the pink flowers and he reached the end of the path. There sat Ray, her long auburn blowing in the wind. Her legs hung over the cliff ledge and she turned around to face him, her cold gray eyes staring at him.  
  
"Why are you here?" she asked.  
  
"I came to apologize for the comments I made. I was totally out of line."  
  
"You were," she muttered and patted her hand next to her, welcoming him to come next to her. He sat down next to her, staring at the falling sun, which was at its full glory with the red light streaking the sky and the warm rays fell on their shoulders.  
  
"Why did you do it?" he asked, wanting, needing to know why she had left him alone in the world.  
  
"I was created for the sole purpose of keeping Sakura alive. I failed and it is my duty to keep her alive at whatever cost."  
  
"But why?"  
  
"No one cares if I am alive or dead. Everyone takes me for granted," she said saddened by her words.  
  
"I care," he said, brushing a lock of hair out of her eyes, which had fallen from the wind.  
  
"Thanks," she said, smiling that rare smile of hers, and looked down at the ground, embarrassed.  
  
Eriol felt a sudden rush of confidence and boldly declared," I love you."  
  
"Feeling mutual," she remarked and kissed him on the cheek and smiled at him with that confident all-knowing grin and it came to him why she was smiling so evilly.  
  
"This is a dream, isn't it."  
  
"Oh course, but this could be a reality if you wish it to be."  
  
"Well, you're dead and so that plan has gone down the drain."  
  
"I'm not dead, Eriol."  
  
"What do you mean?" he asked, not able to hide the excitement and surprise in his voice.  
  
"Do you think I would actually die so easily?" she said laughing." I am immortal. Though I was born human, the powers given to me makes me that way. Clow put a spell on me for that exact purpose and I was to use it if Sakura died. My body may die, but my sprit never does, therefore I never really die."  
  
Eriol smiled a rare thing in the preceding days and lunged at her and wrapped her in a big bear hug. "Tell me anyway I can help you get your body back, let me know," he muttered, burrowing his head into her bushel of hair. Tears were running down his face, wetting her hair and activating the apple cinnamon shampoo that Ray used in her air every day.  
  
"Look, stop your crying. You're depressing me," she said gently and kissed the tears from one of his eyes. She pulled away form him and Eriol stared at her in mild shock. Typically Ray. Always being full of surprises.  
  
"Why did you do that?" he asked, wanting to hear her say the magical three words in the english language.  
  
"Because I love you. I've always have, ever since I was five and meet you." She said grinning at the fondness of the memories.  
  
" So how can I help you? Do you want to me to kill someone and you can use the body?" he asked, willing to kill for the one he loved.  
  
"Nah, even though I would love to see you attempt to kill someone," knowing very well he was all talk and couldn't do it. He didn't have the guts." My spirit is too strong to inhabit a normal body. My old body could handle it because I had unlocked magical abilities but the only way to create a new body is to use the crystal Mamoru has and use it to create a new one."  
  
"I'll do that," he said and Ray looked down at her pooh watch and announced that she had to go. She leapt off the cliff, her wings spreading around her and she flew off.  
  
"Where are you going?" he called out.  
  
"To see Sakura-chan," she called back and sped off.  
  
Eriol stirred in his sleep, sweating from his head to his toes. Tears stained his face and he licked the salt tears from his mouth. He missed her so badly. His blue eyes sprung open and a sleepy rage stormed down the hall and plopped down on the couch to watch Letterman. He needed some cheering up.  
  
Sakura sat in her bed, the pink covers wrapped a round her for she was freezing. Dried tears sat on her face. Even though she had known Ray for only awhile, she missed her. She so unselfishly gave herself up so she could live. She had fallen asleep in Syaoran's arms and Syaoran had carried her home. He had set her on her bed and left her to sleep in peace. Syaoran had left the house and she had woken up from the accidental slamming of the door. She rolled over and closed her eyes, trying to sleep. She fell into a half awake, half asleep state and she was sitting in the park. This place held so many memories for her. She leaned her head against the back of the black wire bench and let the warm rays of the sun shine down on her. Her head rolled back in pleasure of all the memories that the place held: capturing the cards, transforming the cards, Syaoran confronting her after Yukito rejecting her, syaoran betrayal, the…  
  
"Sorry to interrupt this magic moment but," a voice came from above her. Sakura could sense the person shrugging and opened her eyes and saw Ray dressed in a itty bitty bra halter top and a pair of flannel boxers. Sakura squealed in delight and leaped at her, wrapping her up in a hug.  
  
"How you been? Thank you so much," she exclaimed.  
  
"You're welcome, and I've been fine.  
  
"That's good," and the two girls sat down on the bench.  
  
"I saw you getting cozy with Syaoran," Ray commented, grinning that all so familiar all knowing grin.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Do you love him?" she asked  
  
Sakura raised her eyebrow, surprised by the question. "I don't know," s he said, stretching her hands above her head." I mean I love Yue, but I have this.. I still have feeling for him, I think."  
  
"It's tough I know, but look deep within yourself. Realize your true feelings. Both deserve to be loved faithfully, I am going to leave you now."  
  
"But you promised you would protect me at all costs," Sakura whined  
  
"Even if you can't see me, doesn't mean I'm not there. If you ever need help, I'll help you. I still have my powers and abilities," she said and as soon as she arrived, she left, vanished before her eyes.  
  
"Rayyyyeee," she screamed and she woke up. She whipped her forehead off with her shirtsleeve and stood up. Just then the phone rang. Whoever would be calling at 3:00 in the morning. She rushed over to the phone, skidding on the wooden polished floor. She picked up the phone before anyone could wake up in the house.  
  
"Hello," said a sleepy Sakura.  
  
"This is Eriol, sorry to be calling at this hour, but I need to talk to you. Can you meet me here at 9:00?  
  
"Sure, now can I go to sleep."  
  
"Yeah," and Eriol hung up.  
  
Sakura hung up the phone and stumbled up the stairs and collapsed on her bed, squashing a sleepy Kero. He whined in pain in his sleep and Sakura picked him up from on the bag and set him in his drawer. She then fell onto her bed and fell asleep.  
  
Come 9:00, Sakura was in her pjs, standing at Eriol's doorstep. She had woken up 5 minutes ago and shoved some food down her face and flew here. Nakura let her in and she sat down on the couch next to Yue. Yue kissed her on the lips and she smiled as they parted. From across the room, Syaoran glared in their direction and Eriol grinned at his cute little descendent. The whole gang was there and they sat were sitting down on the assorted chairs and couches, waiting for Eriol who was at the head of the room to speak.  
  
"I asked you all to come here for the sole purpose of getting Ray back. As you well know, ray died yesterday to save you Sakura. But she isn't dead. She just lost her body. We need to get the crystal from Mamoru who was the one who Ray made the deal with to make a body for her that she can inhabit and.."  
  
"Why the hell did she do it,' interrupted Nakura, yelling. Ray was her best friend. They did everything together.  
  
"I made a comment about her not playing god for once and she took it literally and did it," he said calmly.  
  
"Hell yeah. Knowing you, you made her feel like a worthless piece of shit. For god sakes Eriol, the girl has given up her entire life to serve you. She has watched for years of you spending time on that evil bitch of a girl Kaho, while swooning over you in private. It is your fault that she is dead and knowing you, you never appreciate anything. Now I am going to leave before I hurt somebody, and go kick Mamoru's ass and get the crystal so see ya," she ended her speech and stormed out, slamming the door and shaking the whole house.  
  
"Eriol, where did you get all these info?" asked Yue, in his usual cold voice.  
  
"I had a dream last night where Ray told me everything."  
  
"So did I," remarked Sakura and they started relaying their dreams to one another.  
  
Nakura stormed down the sidewalk heading for the woods. She needed to do a transporting spell to get to America to find Mamoru and get her friend back. She reached the woods and hid behind a tree. She pulled from around her neck a small key and opened it, turning her into Ruby Moon. The color of her hair turned from a deep mahogany brown to a deep purplish red and her hair got visibly shorted so it came about to her chin. Two black and pink butterfly wings sprouted form her back and she spun the key clumsily around her hand. Ray had made her the key to help her with not having enough power without Eriol's help. It was one of her most treasured items though she had never needed to use it. Ray had told her to just say what she wanted the key to do so she whispered to the key," Take me to the castle of Mamoru."  
  
A rush of air spun around her and she closed her eyes, afraid to look. She opened her eyes and she stood inside the gates of a huge stone castle. She took in her surroundings of lush green grass and a beautiful cloudless blue sky and she spun around and came face to face with a cute guy.  
  
"I've been expecting you, Nakura" he said in a low sexy whisper. 


	16. Losing

A/N I have been watching too many horror films lately and my class is covering sex-ed in school, hence this chapter. You are warned, baaaahhaaaaaa  
  
Nakura was looking into the brown eyes of a seriously beautiful person. She blushed and remarked, "Oh my god, you are so cute!" Her hand went flying to her mouth in realization of what she had just said and she blushed furiously.  
  
"Thanks," the guy said like he heard that every day of his life and ran his hand through his black hair.  
  
"So what are you doing here," she asked, flirting.  
  
Just then she felt somebody grab her hands and put them at the small of her back. She twisted her head around and came face to face with a heavy- set guy who was bald though he was only in his late twenties and was wearing dark black sunglasses, hiding his eyes from her. She faced her head straight and looked at the cute guy, her eyes questioning him why was some fat guy was holding her like she was some prisoner? The guy smirked and it hit her like a ton of bricks.  
  
"You're Mamoru, aren't you," she whispered softly.  
  
The guy's grin widened in answer to her question and she lunged at him, wanting to punch the living daylights out of him. He was responsible for her best friend's death. The guy held her back and Mamoru looked on amused.  
  
Nakura trashed from within the guy's arms, her hands and legs in a fury to get him to let go of her so she could kill him and get the crystal, reviving her best friend. "You, bastard. My best friend would have never died if it wasn't for you offering that stupid deal to her," she shouted at him.  
  
"She was the one who accepted the deal, not me," he said, tossing an apple he had picked off the branches of the apple tree he was leaning on.  
  
"But you knew she was going to take it," she yelled and surged forward. The guys arms fell from around her waist, leaving her free. She rushed forward and leapt at Mamoru. She sent them both toppling to the ground and Nakura landed on top of him and started punching his face. As soon as she had started punching him, she felt herself lifted off the ground and went spiraling into a tree, knocking her unconscious. Her body slumped against the tree and a gash appeared on her head, leaking out blood by the gallons. Mamoru stood up and brushed the dirt off his black trench coat and walked over to Nakura's body. He picked her up and pressed his lips to her forehead. New skin grew upon the gash, mending it and stopping the bleeding. He headed back to the house, his chunky body guard close at his heels. His body guard let him into the house and he placed her into his bedroom. He covered up her shivering form and locked the door behind him.  
  
"Sir, would you like anything for your head?" asked a passing maid.  
  
Mamoru rushed to the nearest bathroom, which was down the hall and looked into the mirror. His left cheek was swollen from Nakura's punches. He pressed his index finger to it and winced from the pain.  
  
"Yeah, sure," he shouted to the hall and he heard the scurrying of feet down the hall. He walked downstairs and since his bedroom was occupied he collapsed onto a couch that sat in the hall.  
  
"Who is she?" asked a voice from above him. Mamoru opened his eyes and sat up and saw his thug of a bodyguard standing above him. Mamoru really didn't like the guy but he had magic and he was powerful so he was stuck with him.  
  
"She is the best friend of Ray, the girl I black-mailed into killing herself. She is the guardian of Eriol, a rival of mine," he said, sighing. He was annoyed. He was in a house of bakas.  
  
"But why did you kill the girl and why did you capture the friend of Ray?" he asked, making a motion toward his master's bedroom.  
  
Mamoru was starting to lose his temper and the floorboards started shaking. Like Ray, he had the ability of his moods having effects on the surroundings around him. Georgie, the bodyguard, tripped over his own feet because the board he was standing on shifted and Mamoru started laughing uncontrollably. Georgie sighed a breath of relief. His master was laughing and he wouldn't get hurt for his questions. As quick as Mamoru laughed, he had Georgie pinned to the wall, his eyes expressing no laughter. Georgie was completely at his will.  
  
"If you should know, Ray is the most powerful sorceress in the world, only rivaled by me and Sakura. As for the girl, Nakura, well she is a prize that I want to have some fun with," he hissed, licking his lips at the thought of what hue was going to Nakura. She was so innocent and that was what made her so attractive. He released his hand from Georgie's throat and Georgie fell to the ground, breathing heavily, thankful he was alive. Mamoru paced back to the couch and flopped down on it and went to sleep. Nakura won't be waking for a few hours.  
  
"Nakura," Eriol shouted, sitting upon Suppi's back. They had been cruising around the town for the last two hours looking at all of Nakura's usual hangouts. It was no use. They couldn't find her. Eriol motioned for Suppi to return home and they rode forward in silence. They reached Eriol's place and Eriol jumped off Suppi's back and landed softly on the ground.  
  
"Any luck?" asked Sakura, walking over to them.  
  
"None," Eriol replied sadly as Suppi banished his wings and transformed into his stuffed animal form. "Where are Kero and Yue?"  
  
"Out searching," she replied and noticed Eriol's eyes turned glassy, trying not to cry.  
  
"Are you okay?" she sked as she leaned forward and hugged him. Nakura's leaving had added more salt to his own bleeding heart.  
  
A rush of air brushed past the hugging friends and Yue landed on the ground.  
  
"Find anything?" Sakura asked as she released Eriol from her grasp.  
  
"There was a power signature near the woods. I didn't recognize it," Yue said bluntly, cutting straight to the point.  
  
"Did it feel like an empty black hole that seems to make you feel powerless?" Eriol asked.  
  
Yue tilt his head in thought." Yeah it actually did."  
  
"Mamoru, it's his work."  
  
"How do you know?" asked Sakura.  
  
Flashback  
  
"Die," yelled an exicted six year old Eriol as he shot a wad of magic at his opponent. The boy opposite him hit the ground with is feet and an earthquake formed from under them. The quake sped at the speed of light, blink and you'll miss it, towards Eriol. He wasn't able to block it in time and he was caught in the the breaking of the ground. He managed to grab a side of the spilt of the ground and hung on for dear life. A black hole formed under him and the side was slowly crumbling.  
  
"Stop it, Mamoru" shouted the instructor and the black haired boy reluctantly made the hole disappear and Eriol fell on a pillow that Mamoru had conquered up in mid air. They were at a training camp for wizard's and Ray had forced him, along with herself to come and learn the ways of a sorcerer.  
  
**************************************************************************************  
  
"So that's how you knew it was Mamoru?" exclaimed Sakura.  
  
"He was the best sorcerer at the camp. He had a fascination with black holes and disappearing forever. Him and Ray were rivals and Ray was the only one who could match his powers. That's why he wanted her out of the picture so he could do something. But what he doesn't know is that Ray is really alive."  
  
"But what are we going to do bout' Nakura," asked Kero.  
  
Eriol could only shrug at the thought of what might be happening to his beloved moon guardian. He walked upstairs, ignoring all the people around him and belly-flopped on to his bed and curled up in fetal position. He needed to talk with Ray.  
  
Nakura awoke with a splitting head-ache. She looked around at her surroundings and found she was on top of a navy blue comforter. Two soft red pillows sat under her head. Red was her favorite color. She felt at ease in her surroundings and then it came to her in a rush, her leaping at Mamoru and him slamming her against the tree. She felt her head for the gash, but it had disappeared. She heard a knock on the door and she sat up," Come in," she whispered, in no condition to escape from the room.  
  
Mamoru walked in and said with a grin," How are you feeling?"  
  
"Awful, you bastard," and she attempted to leap off the bed and slam him into the wall, but she underestimated her strength and her knees buckled under the sore muscles in her leg. She fell to the ground and Mamoru caught her before she fell.  
  
"Are you okay," he asked, showing genuine concern for his captive.  
  
"I'm fine," she said, instantly getting out of his arms and sat on the bed defiantly. She looked around the room, looking for an alternate escape route since Mamoru was blocking the door. There was a small window within the red walls, letting in the sunlight and it was too high for her to reach. She could always turn into Ruby but she didn't know if she had the strength to. Mamrou, as if reading her thoughts, which he was, slipped a small gold necklace with a silver locket with a ruby on the cover around her neck.  
  
"This shall make you unable to transform," he said as he backed away from her.  
  
Nakura tugged at the necklace around her neck and frantically tried to get it off. A pain ran through her hand making her cry out in pain. Mamoru grimaced at the pain it was causing her. He really didn't want to do this but he had to take his pre-cautions for what was to come, and he grinned at the thought. " Take off your clothes," he ordered.  
  
"What," she screamed in outrage of what he was suggesting.  
  
"You know what I said. Now take off your clothes!" he commanded.  
  
"When hell freezes over I will," she said, defiantly.  
  
Mamoru walked ever so elegantly and pulled off his white shirt that was clinging to his muscular chest. Nakura sucked in her breath, realizing what he had in mind. She burrowed her head into her knees. She was a virgin. She always imagined her first time to be special not by having some guy she didn't even know being the partner. She sprung up and she raced to the door, ignoring the pain in her bones. She threw herself at the door and turned the doorknob desperately. It was locked. She whimpered and turned around to see Mamoru right in her face. Even though she was in the situation that she was in, she couldn't help knowing how cute he was. How ironic. Mamoru pressed his hand to her shoulder and held her against the wall. He kissed her gently on the lips and Nakura tried to fight with every fiber of her body to resist just giving up, letting him rape her. His kiss was like some drug to her, slowly making her lose all her senses and abilities to resist. She didn't know that  
he had pushed her on the bed and was slowly removing her clothes. She could feel all this, felt the pleasure that it bring, but for some reason she didn't care. She had to fight it, she knew she did, but she couldn't. She was vaguely aware of him, unhooking her bra and slowly slipping it off her....  
  
Eriol sat up in his bed and looked around the room. He had just had a dream about Mamoru and Nakura and Mamoru was going to rape her. He licked his lips and found salted water around them. It was just a dream, he thought to himself, but it seemed too real. It was just an illusion, but what if him saying Ray in the dream was just an illusion too.  
  
"Ray, if you are really alive, give me a sign. Tell me that you're really alive," he shouted to the air.  
  
Nothing at first happened but then a book that was sitting on his desk rose into the air and he knew it was true, she was really alive.  
  
"Is it true?" he asked to the book," Has she really been raped?"  
  
He heard that sweet voice of his lover within his head," Mamoru sent you the vision because he knew it would get your goat. He kissed her, using his psychic abilities to make her helpless and then stripped her of her all her clothes. And yes, he raped her," she said sadly.  
  
"But why?" he asked, the tears were beginning to fall again. Seemed that was all he was doing lately.  
  
"HE has had an obsession with Nakura ever since she was created," she said, sounding like she was shrugging. He could hear the sound of pain in her voice. Ray had always had trouble expressing emotions, except for anger which she was good at.  
  
"Look, you need your sleep, so sleep," she whispered and he felt a whispery hand touch his forehead and he fell asleep immediately.  
  
Lerae walked into down the marble tiled floor, making no sound as she walked. It was the middle of the night and she couldn't sleep. A question kept rolling around her mind, keeping her awake. The only way she could possibly get sleep is if she asked the question so here she was, knocking on a heavy wooden door.  
  
"Come in," shouted a male voice.  
  
Lerae walked in and found Ty wide awaked slouched down on the couch, reading a book.  
  
"I have a question. Will Syaoran get to be the leader of the clan?"  
  
"Yes, on his 16^th birthday, he will come leader. Why did you think he wouldn't?"  
  
"Because he didn't succeed in killing Sakura and getting the cards. Sakura is now dead and she can't make the cards for him," she explained.  
  
Ty laughed, a great hearty one." We never wanted Sakura dead. We knew he loved her and we didn't want him to kill her. If he marries her, that's means the cards are still in the bloodline. Besides Sakura was revived by the tiger."  
  
"O, so do you want us to get Syaoran and Sakura together?"  
  
"You can try, but sakura currenntly belongs to Yue."  
  
"But she's dead."  
  
Ty gave her a grin.  
  
"How do you know all this stuff?" Lerae asked, impressed at his vast knowledge.  
  
"I see much in the fire," he said, motioning with his chin the fireplace. Lerae left the room, now knowing that she could sleep knowing her question was answered.  
  
In a graveyard beyond the grave stones and trees sat a patch of freshly dug dirt that Ray had dug for the bodies of Kaho and Brad. Though it was dark and very hard to see by, a passer-by who was visiting the stone of his wife and two kids who had died from a fire, could have swore he saw a pale skinny hand poking out of the dirt where some loose soil lay. 


	17. Preparing and confusing on what u really...

Sorry, my computer crashed. Any spacing errors are not my fault because Word is being screwy.  
  
  
  
The passer-by stood up from kneeling by his wife's grave and walked over to where something was poking out. Every fiber of his body screamed for him not to pull the stick that's what he thought it was, from the earth. When he got there, he realized it was a thin bony women's hand. It reminded him of a horror film he had watched, and obviously he had seen enough of them to know that not to touch it, so curiosity killed the cat, and he clutched the hand. The hand tightened around his own and he was skidding into the dirt. Ground hit chin and he could the feel of the bone breaking. A whole body-length appeared in the dirt and he fell in. The dirt covered him and could the last thing he saw was a young lady with long red hair and red eyes, covered in dirt from head to toe, smiling down at him almost like evilly. AS the dirt slowly smothered him he could hear her whisper" Now you can be with your family." Kaho brushed the dirt off her and stood up, taking her first true breath in almost a week. Ray had too concerned about Sakura being alive to check if she was dead or not . She had blackened out by the waves of pain emitting from her chest. She has been awaked to find her lying underground. She had her powers still and she was able to transfer oxygen from outside to her little hole in the ground. She had done a spell to when someone touched her hand they would replace her on the ground. She was almost skin and bones and her beautiful red locks were tangled but she was alive and that was all that mattered. She had killed Sakura which made her happy, but Ray wasn't and she wanted her dead more so then Sakura. It was Ray's fault that she had lost Eriol and Brad. She could still hear the scream Brad made when the blade of Ray's knife ripped through his spinal cord and killed. Eriol had always been in love with Ray and despite every thing she did for him, Ray was always the better person. She brushed herself off and walked to the nearest newsstand to find what she had missed in the world of news. All the papers for today were taken but she spotted an old one lying on the park bench and she picked it up and read the title reading:  
  
Kinomoto Sakura dead?  
  
Just before Kinomoto Sakura was put into the ground, she awoke suddenly, confused about where she was and to the surprise of many of her friends noticed that her friend Ray has disappeared.  
  
Kaho stopped reading after that and scowled. She had not done her job. At least Ray was gone. She stood up and headed toward the direction of the nearest beauty spa. She needed serious treatment.  
  
Nakura woke up from the sunlight streaming in from the window. At her side, slept Mamoru. Her head cleared up and she remembered what had happened. He had raped her and when she would do what he wished, used his psychic abilities to take control over her and make her do what he wished. She had only vague memories for she would in a some what intoxicated state. She burrowed her head into her pillow in shame. She ad slept with that asshole. A thought came to her head and she stood up and tried the door. It was locked. She looked around the room looking for a key or something of that sort. There around Mamoru's neck, was a small yellow key. She crept to him and ever so cautiously tried to get it off him. She had it out to his nose when he stirred and she almost dropped it. She slid it off the rest of his face and let herself out of the door. She noticed for the first time that she was completely naked and she ran to the bathroom which was just down the hall thank god, and she found a washing machine and dryer in there. She opened the dryer and found a adidas fleece sweatshirt and a pair of running shorts. She slipped them on and walked towards the door. She stepped outside and was momentarily blinded by the light. She walked to the gate and found that some was guarding it, so she couldn't get out that way. She walked around and found a spot where the metal barb wire was broken. She jumped up and began climbing the 29 feet fence. She was almost all the way up when she came face to face with a pair of brown eyes floating in the air. She screamed and slipped and fell. Mamoru floated down and caught her before she hit the ground. He then helped her up and Nakura glared at him.  
  
"Tryin' to escape, are we," he remarked, smirking.  
  
His only reply was Nakura's glaring. He glared right back at her and they were suddenly engrossed in a staring contest to see who was to talk first. Nakura blinked and sighed saying," How did you know I was trying to escape?"  
  
"The key is connected to me so I can sense when it leaves my body, much like Ray and her staff."  
  
A small tear ran down her cheek in memory of her friend and the reason why she was his sex slave. "I know you hate guys clothes so I brought you these," Mamoru said holding up an outfit that Ray would have loved. It wasa whote a nd gold vest that laced up in the front, exposing a good portion of her chest and a extra short black miniskirt. She gulped. It was pretty and all but she would never in a million years ever wear it.  
  
"Put it on," Mamoru commanded.  
  
"What if I don't want to?" she replied scared about what might happen if she didn't obey.  
  
Mamoru pulled from behind his back a long black whip and snapped it threatingly.  
  
Nakura pulled the clothes out of his hand and headed inside for the bathroom.  
  
Sakura roller-bladed down the street, taking it slow, just enjoying the scenery. It might the last time she ever saw it. Eriol and her were going to leave tonight for Mamoru's castle. Eriol was staying home today to plan the encounter they would have so she was alone to face Wayne. Wayne had left her alone when Ray was around because he was afraid of her, for she'd beat him up on a regular basis, but it was common knowledge that Ray was missing.  
  
"Hey Sakura, wait up," shouted a male voice from behind her that sounded like Wayne's voice.  
  
She slowed down and turned around. The whole basketball team with Wayne at its head were coming towards her.  
  
"What do you want, Wayne?" she asked, just wanting to get home.  
  
"I want you baby," he said, laughing at his own creativity." Go out with me."  
  
"Not in this lifetime, I already a boyfriend."  
  
"But you can always break up with him. I am certainly cuter then him."  
  
"Actually you're not."  
  
Wayne face got flushed and he hit Sakura across the face knocking her into the rail and over it into the river. Fortunately for her, it was spring and there was little water in it.  
  
Syaoran was down the street, carrying a grocery bag. His mother had sent him to get eggs and milk for the cake she was baking. He heard Sakura's scream as she fell over the railing and he dropped the bags and ran in the direction of the scream. He saw Wayne laughing his head off and remembered him as the guy that wouldn't leave Sakura alone from his consent spying on her and he rushed over and punched him, sending him coughing up blood.  
  
"How dare you do that to my girlfriend," he yelled at Wayne as he helped Sakura up and then put his arm around Sakura's cold wet shoulder. Sakura's whole body tingled from his touch. She shouldn't be thinking those things. She already had a boyfriend. Syaoran led her away from them, giving them dirty looks and when they got around the corner asked," Are you okay?" guanine concerned about her.  
  
"Besides being wet, I'm fine," she said cheerful as always.  
  
"My hotel is just down the street, I can get you a change of clothes."  
  
"Oh sure, if they won't be any trouble,"  
  
"With you it never is," he muttered. Sakura smiled, that was what made him so sweet.  
  
They reached a brick hotel and they went in. Though the outside was plain, the inside resembled a small mansion. Maids were everywhere and the house seemed to be in motion. Syaoran led her up to Meilin's room and took a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt that Meilin never wore and threw them to her. She went into the bedroom's bathroom and changed her clothes. She handed the wet ones to Syaoran and he singled for a maid to pick them up. A maid was there in a flash, whisking the clothes away.  
  
"I should be going, give me the clothes soon or sometime," she said, walking out of Meilin's room. Before she could leave, Syaoran grabbed her shoulder and said," The clothes will be done in only a few moments because of magic."  
  
Sakura sat down on Meilin's bed and a drop of blood fell onto the lavender conforter, staining it. Her hand flew to where the blood came from and realized that the spot where Wayne hit her, right above her lips, was bleeding. Syaoran walked out of the bathroom with a cotton ball covered in peroxide and a gauss pad. He pressed the cotton ball against her cut and she yelped from the stinging inside her cut. Syaoran whinsed at hearing his beloved yelp.  
  
"Gomen," he whispered and handed her the gauss to absorb the blood with.  
  
"Thanks," she said as she pressed it ti her cut.  
  
Syaoran felt a sudden feeling of calmness like nothing in the world bothered him. He had no worries. A surge of adrenaline went through his body and he thought of a crazy thing he wanted to do. Well, more so then before. Before he lost his nerve, he captured her lips with his own. Sakura felt a sudden of enjoyment and also some voice was screaming to her not to do it. She backed away from him and said in a quiet voice," I have to be going," and before he could argue she was out the door. She ran into the now pouring rain and jogged home, thinking about what had just happened. She wouldn't dare tell anyone about it, it would somehow get back to Yue. She felt so guilty like she had rolled a pile of mud and was walking around town for hours drenched in it. She felt like someone was shining a spotlight on her, exposing her to the world. She had enjoyed it, the kiss. It was so wrong, but at the same time so right, it was like they were meant to be together. She felt at ease with Syaoran ironically, though he attempted to kill her several years back. With Yue, it seemed like things were somewhat forced. Sure, they had this unbearable attraction between them, but was something about Syaoran that made her just light up a round him. She was screwed up. She didn't know what she wanted. She wished that Ray were still around. Ray always understood and never judged. She knew that Ray was somewhat a slut and knew a lot about love and had an powerful attraction to Eriol. Tomoyo was the only one who wouldn't judge but she knew nothing about love. Sakura was no idiot. She knew that Tomoyo had been in love with her since they were little. She didn't know how it was like to love someone and have them like you back. Ray, I wish you were here, she thought within her mind.  
  
"I am," said a self-assured voice form inside her head.  
  
"Ray?" she questioned through their mind link.  
  
"Of course, did you know anyone else who would talk to you psychically."  
  
"What should I do?"  
  
"I have no idea. Only you can make the decision. You owe it to Yue to tell him what happened and go from there."  
  
"Ray…Ray," she shouted within her mind but Ray had gone and she noticed that she was on the block where she lived. She let herself in the house and went into the bathroom and pulled off her rain-drenched clothes and stepped into a warm, hot shower. What a good way to drown her sorrows away.  
  
**************************************************************************** *********After an hour of being the shower, Sakura stepped outside and meet Eriol at the park.  
  
"Are you ready?" asked Eriol as she walked over to him.  
  
"Yep."  
  
"Kero and Eriol have no idea?"  
  
"Yep."  
  
Eriol and Sakura spun their staffs, one with a small stars encircled by a circle and a one with a huge half sun on it, around in unison and they disappeared into thin air. They were off to get Nakura and the crystal. 


	18. Battles

A pair of feet appeared on the ground and then a pair of blue jeans rolled up from the feet and in a rush of air, Eriol landed on the ground, Sakura appearing a few seconds later. Eriol looked around and was amazed about how pretty the landscape was. Blue mountains loomed in the distance and the grass was almost too bright of a green to even look at. The sun shone down on them, making Sakura's auburn locks gleam in the sun. Eriol couldn't help noticing how beautiful she was. Eriol pulled from his pocket a small dung bomb that he had gotten from Nakura's room, which she kept there to get out of tests that she didn't study for. The bomb would make a loud sound like standing right next to a train going 300 miles a hour and make a ton of gas. They were going to make a scene.

Syaoran walked down the street that led up to Sakura's house. He wanted to apologize for what he had done, kissing her and all. He reached her house and saw the golden eyed, golden furred lion named Kerberos and a winged angel who stood in a white robe and hair that swept the fallen cheryblossoms off the ground and Syaoran felt a overwhelming guilt for what he had just done. Yue was going to be pissed if he found out what happened.

Kerberos and Yue were talking, but immediately shout up when seeing Syaoran.

"What are you doing here, you Chinese genki," Kerberos hissed in his low gravely voice.

"I need to see Sakura, is she there?"

"We thought she was with you," Yue said coldly. He really didn't like the guy for hurting his beloved some many years ago." If it is important, tell me be cause I'm her boyfriend."

What Yue said made Syaoran mad. What right did he have to say that to him. Syaoran wanted to whip his little smirk off his face. The only way he could do that was to tell what happened but then they would battle. Syaoran had been waiting for this moment his entire life to retry the final judgment over again.

"If she is your girlfriend, then why did she kiss me willingly," he remarked smartly.

Yue looked crestfallen then his eyes seemed to be lit by fire.

"You're lying," he hissed.

"I'm not," Syaoran said calmly getting in a fighting position.

"Sakura would never do that to me."

"She did," and Syaoran said it so confidently that Yue knew deep down it was true.

Yue charged at him, making a sword of ice form his ice crystals. Syaoran jumped out of the way and drew his sword form his pendent. Kerberos jumped in sending a fireball at Syaoran. He sent out a water ofuda at it, putting it out . The fight was on.

Nakura raked a pile of leaves into a pile, making careful not to make her mini skirt didn't ride up. Mamoru watched her, amused. Suddenly the sky turned pink and fog leaked over the fence. Mamoru coughed uncontrollably; he was allergic to smoke. Nakura looked up, praying for what she was hoping it was. Two figures in shadow stood on the black iron fence and as the fog cleared, the face of Eriol and Sakura appeared. Nakura squealed in delight and Eriol and Sakura jumped down. Nakura greeted Eriol, throwing her hands around and sobbed in delight. Eriol stroked her hair and whispered things to her that Sakura couldn't hear.

"So you finally came. I'm happy. We will finally decide who is the better sorceress/sorcerer," Mamoru hissed coolly

"We will be taking Nakura," Eriol said, holding Nakura as tears from her stained his shoulder.

"No problem. I have no use for her, I took what was important to me," he remarked.

Nakura flushed and she pulled away from Eriol and went flying towards him, fist raised. Mamoru blinked and sent her flying into Eriol's arms, sending them knocked in the tree. Eriol rubbed his head, seriously shaken.

"We want the crystal." Sakura said.

"If you want it , you have to defeat me in battle," Mamoru said," Now step forward the one who will fight."

Eriol tried to stand up but groaned in pain, Nakura had landed on his foot, breaking it. Sakura stood forward and said," I will fight."

"But you can't. He didn't hurt you. I deserve to show the bastard what he dies to my two best friends," Eriol yelled from the tree.

"You are too weak. I am the most powerful of us all," she said calmly.

"The rules are this: The battle ends when someone dies. You can either get the crystal if I'm alive or not. Now let's began." Mamoru sent a wave of lightning at her which she jumped in the air before it hit her. All the training that Eriol and crew had put her through had made her a better fighter. She called on freeze to try to stop him so she could hit it but he just sent fire a it, making the creature retreat into its card. She sent out card after card at him, but he just blocked them. He sent out a wave of lightning and she was too slow and was hit by it and thrown to the ground. She was vaguely aware of Eriol screaming to her to get his crystal but she wasn't fast enough to get it and Dash had been hurt real bad. She burrowed her head into her hands, the pain was coming almost unbearable

Tomoyo walked down the street, carrying a bag that contained a dress for sakura. She wanted Sakura to try it on. She turned the corner and found something that almost mad her faint in shock. Kerberos, Yue and Syaoran all lay on the ground covered in blood. She knew that she had fought each other but didn't know the reason. She ran over to them and she dragged them one by one into the house. From being so many years, friends with Sakura, she had her own key. She set up a miniature hospital and started bandaging their wounds.

The battle with Mamoru was taking a turn for the worst. All the cards were defeated and she was afraid to use the 53th card, never using it before. She was tired and she lay on the ground, clutching her stomach as Mamoru sent wave after wave of pain after her. The words that Ray had said to her echoed through her mind;I will always be there for you if you need me." Ray, please help me. This is for you," she muttered.

I can help you but there is a price, she heard in her mind.

" Can you do it," Sakura said as she groaned in pain her whole body being on fire. 

Ok, you want me to get the necklace that has the crystal on it, she eard within her mind

A overwhelming pain surged through her body and she felt like she was dying. She closed her eyes and she was looking down on the situation from above. Is this is what it was like to die, she wondered. She saw her bodies stand up, groaning as it stood and it came to her in a rush of what happened. Ray had took over her body .Sakura's bodies eyes turned gray and Sakura's body went flying at the speed of light at him, snatching the crystal before Mamoru had even time to react. As soon Sakura's body touched the crystal she felt like someone had token a vacuum and was sucking her back up. Her spirt went back into her body and beside her stood Ray, completely healed. Sakura's body was sore still and she watched as Ray strutted towards Mamoru, tossing the crystal behind her to Eriol who had joined Sakura and he knelt beside Sakura annd healed her.

Mamoru knew now that Ray was back, he was dead meat. He shouted to the wind," I may have lost, but I will die and I am taking you with me."

Ray was almost 3 feet from him and several hundred boulders flew on them and everyone shouted Ray's name.


	19. Battles

The rubble poured down littering the entire area with huge black boulders and Eriol yelled for every one to get out of the yard and they ran frantically toward the iron gates. Nakura swung open the gates and Sakura sent out Hope in desperation. Hope created a force field allowing the boulders to simply bounce off of them and Sakura thanked the fates that the card obeyed her even though it was the first time she had ever used it. They watched the entire yard fill up with rocks and they knew there was no hope for Ray. She was gone, dead after only a few minutes of living again. Eriol tried to move out of the shield but Hope, obeying Sakura's silent wishes, won't let him. Nakura held him close to her as he sobbed, losing the love that he had just realized he had loved. Eriol held the crystal sensing the power that radiated from it. With the force of his hand, the fragile crystal shattered and the necklace that bound Nakura to not being able to transfrom broke, and she smiled, knowing that she could protect herself now and she transformed. Hope let go of the shield knowing that the danger had passed and Eriol leapt from Nakura's arms and ran to the rubble, screaming Ray's name. As it was meet by dead silence, his heart skipped a beat. She had to be dead, she would answer him if she was alive. No, mustn't think those things, she is alive. Three feet of rubble surrounded his muscular body and he heaved the stones the stones in the air, despite them being heavy and Sakura and Ruby Moon hit them, smashing them. He saw a hand sticking out out of the rubble and he rushed over to it and frantically dug through it. He came upon the body of Mamoru and he screamed frustrated. He noticed that Mamoru had a slash on his chest that stained his hands with blood and he smiled sadly. It was Ray's handwork and like always she took him down with her. He looked at t he rocks to the right of the pit he had dug out and saw a small blood trail from where Ray had rubbed the blood off her precious knife. He stood up and stopped where the blood trail stopped and he dug through the rubble in a wild state praying she'd be there. There at the bottom of the pile was Ray in a fetal position, with a slowly diminishing shield. She opened one eye and said coyly," Do you think that I would die so easily?"  
  
Eriol was too over-joyed to answer the question and ran over to her and wrapped her in a huge bear hug. He burrowed his head into her hair and despite being covered in dirt she smelled good. Tears ran into her towel of a hair and he could hear the smile and tears in Ray's voice as she said softly," I missed you so much." He faced her and kissed her hard on the lips and she kissed him back, fearless as always. She cupped his head with her hands and ran her fingers through his hair. Nakura watched as her favorite people in the world kissed passionately and she sniffed; Ray deserved a nice guy like Eriol. She had spent her whole life stripping for guys who only wanted her for her looks and some guys because of her powers. Sure it made her sad that Eriol was in love with her best friend, she still loved Eriol more then just brotherly sisterly way but better her then Kaho. Nakura cleared her throat and coughed. Ray looked up, holding Eriol and replied," Do u mind, you're kinda ruining the moment."  
  
Eriol lost it then and there and starting laughing uncontrollably. In between his bouts of laugher, he managed to choak out," Go see her, we can continue this later at my house," and he wiggled his eyebrows seducible.  
  
Ray smiled and stood up and dove into Nakura's outstretched hands and whispered into her ear," I'm sorry." As they pulled away Nakura asked," How come?" confused.  
  
"Because you went through hell and back for me. Sure you didn't suceed in getting me a body but still you tried and all that mattered.""Nakura blushed and Ray went over to Sakura and smiled," We have a lot to talk about."  
  
"Can you come over tonight, I need your advice."  
  
"uh…Eriol, is it okay I go over to Sakura's house?" she yelled over her shoulder."  
  
"Yeah sure, don't let me stop you. Though I'll miss you," and Eriol pretended to pout.  
  
Ray nodded to Sakura in a yes to go to her house and said," We should be going."  
  
Ray took her red teardrop necklace from around her neck and willed it into a staff with a ruby embedded into it. She made sure to check if Mamoru is alive and she made a circle around them and in a rush of air, they appeared next to sakura's house. Sakura invited them in and on the couch sat a very angry Yue and a equally mad Syaoran and Tomoyo sat between them separating them so they didn't fight.Kerberos sat on the floor snoozing away peacefully. 


	20. To want both

Two figures sat stiffly on the couch, arms crossed in defiance. A winged angel with cat eyes the color of ice and white hair tied in a ponytail that lightly brushed the dust off the floor. Next to him sat a young girl around the age of 16 with violet eyes and blackish-gray hair in a french braid down her back, clearing separating the guys from clawing each other eyes out. A amber eyed boy sat next to her, his brown hair tousled by the wind, despite their was none. He glared Yue from across Tomoyo and Nakura lost it and started laughing, a unnatural high pitched laugh, obviously fake.  
  
"Why did you cheat on me with Syaoran?" Yue asked, his eyes turning watery, cutting to the chase.  
  
"I didn't…"  
  
"I'm sorry I couldn't be everything you needed but.." Yue babbled on.  
  
"I…"  
  
"..I love you and.."At this point Ray lost it and screamed," Yue, for god sakes let her talk."  
  
"I didn't cheat on you, it was all of Syaoran's doing," Sakura said. It was the lie she had made up in the middle of Eriol's and Ray's little makeout session while she reflected on what to say to Yue. She had no idea what to do.  
  
Syaoran knew that she was lying and blurted out," You enjoyed it as mush as I did, don't try to put this all on me."  
  
Sakura had no answer for this and Yue felt a huge weight drop down on him. He was going to say something when a tall brown hair smirkin guy walked in and remarked observantly, half screeching," You cheated on him," pointing at Yue," for that chinese genki, what the hell were you thinking?"  
  
Syaoran and Yue both tried to talk at once and both glared at each other for trying to speak. Nakura remarked," She belong with Syaoran, despite every thing he did to her."  
  
Syaoran fought the urge to go and hug Nakura despite how annoying she sometimes was. "Thanks for being so understanding," he said, smiling that rare beautiful smile of his.  
  
"I thought you were on my side," said Yue hurt.  
  
"Well, I think my cute little descendent should get the card mistress. It was meant to be and Yue was created to be a guardian not a lover, but at the same time, Yue didn't try to kill her so maybe.." Eriol poundered.  
  
Everyone sweat dropped and those who were involved in the conversation turned to him and yelled," Shut up," and mass chaos irrupted. It was a all out fight over who belonged with Sakura, not at all caring about what Sakura wanted or thought.  
  
"Well, I think that Sakura should make the choice," remarked Fugitaka form the other room, cooking dinner." So what's your choice?"  
  
Everyone turned to her and a chorus of voices rang out with advice of what they wanted. It soon became not what was best for Sakura but a personal grudge match between the parties. Ray and Sakura stood in the back of the room, silent, taking it all in. Nakura had transformed and Kerberos was charging at her, mad for waking him because Nakura stepped on his tail. Touya and Syaoran were in a screaming match, both blue in the face. Yue was trying to get his hands around Eriol's neck for even suggesting the idea of thinking that him and Sakura didn't belong together.  
  
Ray couldn't take it any longer and shouted," All of you stop it," but no one listened. An aura of power surrounded her and the whole house started shaking and everyone looked up from their miniature battles. A small yellow flowered vase fell off the stand crashing into the floor, shattering into tiny pieces.  
  
"Shut up all of you. I have had a very good day until I came here. Now leave all of you before someone gets hurt."  
  
"You can't make us," whined Yue. " I want to know which one of us is she going to chose."  
  
"Watch me," and Ray closed her eyes in concretion. Yue was surrounded in a ball of blue psychic energy and her eyes sprung open and he went flying out of the opened wooden door and landed on the doorstep and the door slammed.  
  
"Who would like to go next?" Ray remarked, holding up her staff threateningly, still in its necklace form.  
  
Everyone filed out of the room and Eriol was the last one out," Luv ya," he whispered into Ray's ear and kissed her good-bye and he walked out of the door.  
  
"What am I going to do?" whined Sakura, flopping down on the couch  
  
"YOU have to decide who you want to be with. It's not fair to put them through this."  
  
"But I love them both."  
  
"In the different ways though, right," Ray tilted her head in confusion.  
  
"Yue is so hot and he is completely devoted to me and would never hurt me, but he is my guardian but if I break up with him, it could break up the friendship thing. Syaoran, I have been in love with him for years, but he tried to kill me. I mean I forgave him and all but he loves the clan more then he loved me."  
  
"But that is in the past, now is what you have to worry about. Don't think of what might be but what will happen today," said Ray flopping on the couch beside Sakura.  
  
"How did you know you were in love with Eriol?" asked Sakura, trying to figure out to tell love.  
  
"I always been in love with him. It's the curse of the human guardians. We were meant to love our masters. Sure, you are really my master but Eriol was the one who I obey, no offense to you, of course."  
  
"But is Yue's love for me real."  
  
"That I can't answer. Clow intrusted me with the knowledge of the creation of the cards and guardians and he had forbidden me to tell you for it may effect the choice that you shall make."  
  
Sakura sighed and lay her head on a pillow." How did life get so complicated?"  
  
"Life was supposed to test us, if it was just smooth roads, it would be no fun."  
  
"Should I trust Syaoran."  
  
"Yeah, he is over the card issue because he will no matter what ,get the cards from you and…"  
  
"What do you mean?" Sakura interupted.  
  
"He was never expected to succeed at killing you. He loves you too much to do that. He would be killing himself in a way. It was a test for him though the clan knew he would fail. They want you to marry him someday so at least the cards stay in the family, if that helps."  
  
All was silent for a few moments and Sakura sat up with a start. "I know what I must do, can you go tell the other one that I am breaking up with them."  
  
Ray read her mind so she knew who was the person and said," No I can't do it. You have to do it, it would only be fair."  
  
Sakura walked out the door and threw out the fly card. She sprouted two long feathery white wing ands he took off. From the bushes sat a pair of red eyes staring into the window. Its eyes narrowed, Ray was alive and it was pissed. It had lost its one love to her and she was the only one to stop her for her conquest to kill Sakura. 


	21. Aiko

A/N the votes are in as of 3/10/02 and the chosen pair is…I guess you have to read and find out  
  
Thanks be to Green Mystress for cracking me up, totally true  
  
A auburn haired girl flew over the town of Tomeda, her long white wings parting the air. She came to a huge brick hotel and landed by it. She brushed her bangs from her eyes and pounded on the door. A black haired girl answered the door, her hair in pigtails, her red eyes shining happily.  
  
"Should I tell Syaoran you are here?" she asked.  
  
"Would you please," Sakura said politely.  
  
Meilin bounded up the stairs, humming. Sure now there was no hope for her and Syaoran but she wanted him with Sakura. She flung open the oak door that was Syaoran's room and found him spinning his sword around his body, consecrating on the hum the blade made as it swished through the air. Syaoran sensed he had a visitor and stopped and faced her.  
  
Meilin spoke first," Sakura is here," she said grinning evilly.  
  
Syaoran grinned and headed out of the door. Meilin caught his shoulder and whispered," Good luck."  
  
Syaoran grinned at his cousin and thundered down the stairs.  
  
"Syaoran, we need to talk," Sakura said quietly.  
  
Syaoran made a motion for her to follow him to his bedroom, but Sakura shook her head.  
  
"I would like to stay here," she said, looking up at him, her head hanged. "I have made my decision"  
  
Syaoran looked up hopefully. She was going to say he was hers. Yippppeeee. The house seemed to go silent waiting for Sakura's next words. What she said meant if the cards stayed in the family. Meilin and Lerae stood behind where the steps twisted, hanging onto every word.  
  
Sakura took a huge breath and said very fast," Ray has helped me a lot and she made me realize something. I can't trust you. You may love me, but actions speak louder then words. If I choose you, it means that the cards will be in the family, and how am I supposed to know if that is the only reason why you love me. I'm sorry," and she spun around and crossed the hall where the door sat.  
  
"But I love you," Syaoran shouted, tears running down his face, a rare thing indeed.  
  
"You may, but I don't," she said coldly, not trying to give him any false hope and she walked out the door and broke out in a run so he didn't have to see her cry. She got to the bridge and hosted herself on the rail and slipped off her shoes and socks and soaked her feet inside the warm water. Tears fell freely down her face and she felt guilty for what she had just done.  
  
Syoran stood by the door still in shock. "Who is Ray?" asked Meilin as Lerae comforted her son. She held him close to her and he sagged in her arms, feeling all his strength run out of him. "She is the one we called the tiger."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"It's all her fault, if she hadn't talked to Sakura, she would have chosen me."  
  
"But I thought she was dead?" commented Lerae.  
  
"Sakura revived her."  
  
"Are you sure you want to mess with Ray? She is extremely powerful. The last time you fought, you got your ass whipped," worried Meilin out loud.  
  
"I'm sure."  
  
If you were too pass the bridge you would see two identical girls hugging each other, except one looked slightly older and had longer browner hair then the other who had brown hair that was more blond. The two girls parted and Ray whispered,"Are you okay?"  
  
"Yeah, but I feel so guilty like I've done something wrong."  
  
"You haven't, you had to do what you had to do. Syaoran is going to be the leader of the clan and every single women in the family will compete for his attention, do you really want to be the girlfreind of a guy who has girls fawning over him, who would sleep with him if he ordered them to. Trust me, his power will go to his head."  
  
Sakura had no answer but Ray was right like always. She should be number one in a guys life and Yue would do that for her.  
  
"I have to get going, I need to apologize to Yue," Sakura said standing up and slipping on her shoes and handed Ray her socks to take home for her because they would be soaked form her wet feet. She took her key from around her neck and turned it into a staff with a star with a pink circle around it. She threw out a card with a winged bird on it and she grew wings again on her back and she flew to Yukito room, which was across town. She knocked on the door but there was no answer. She went around the house to Yukito's bedroom but he wasn't there. Where the hell is he? She thought to herself. She sent out the windy card and shouted," Windy, find Yue for me."  
  
Minutes ticked by and she waited impatiently for Windy to return. She saw a gust of wind pass her and she heard the smooth voice say in her head," He is at Tokyo Tower." That figured, that was there they meet for the first time. It was getting to be nighttime and the crescent moon hung in the sky as the sun slowly sunk below the horizon. It was too much of a long journey. She didn't know the spell that Eriol and her had used to get to Mamoru's castle. She closed her eyes and closed her eyes and wished for Ray to appear. Ray appeared in a pouf of air and Sakura asked," How do you do that?"  
  
"Transporting?"  
  
"Yeah, its too fair of a journey to get to Tokyo tower and it is getting late."  
  
"You're not advanced enough in your powers to do it yet. Do you wish for me to do it for you?"  
  
"Yeppers."  
  
Ray held out her staff and traced a circle around them both and wrote a few symbols in the dirt that she didn't recognize. The ruby on the Ray's staff shone and they appeared in front of of Tokyo Tower. Ray handed her a piece of paper that contained the symbols that she used and vanished. Sakura flew up to the top of the tower and sat next to Yue who was sitting with his knees to his chest.  
  
"What are you doing here?" asked Yue, his bangs covering his eyes so Sakura couldn't tell his emotions because his voice rarely ever displayed what he felt.  
  
"I would like to apologize. I am sorry for kissing Syaoran though he was the one that did it," she put a finger under his lowered chin and pushed it up so she could look him in the eyes. She brushed his bangs out of is eyes and whispered softly so that Yue had to lean foreword to hear her," I realize now that my whole life you have protected me and you would never in your right mind hurt me. You have always been there for me and it know how much it hurt you to see me be with Syaoran but you said nothing. You let me realize my mistakes for myself. I love you with all my heart and I wish, hope you will forgive me." She leaned forward and pressed her lips to his and pulled back a few centimeters to see his reaction. His emotions flashed through his eyes, madness then lovingness for her. "I love you too, Sakura. I'm sorry for ever doubting that," and he traced hr face with his finger.  
  
"Thanks, but its my fault. I realize now that I have always been in love with you and being I being in love with Yukito had been a coverup. I was loveing you."  
  
Yue's eyes turned glassy and he sniffed. " It's a beautiful night, huh," he said as Sakura leaned against him, him holding her.  
  
"Reminds me of the night we meet," she whispered as they kissed.  
  
"Ahhh, that's so sweet," screamed a pink winged human butterfly from a few feet away form them.  
  
"Ruby, can you leave us alone," asked Sakura, "You are kinda ruining the moment."  
  
"I see you are taking lessons form Ray, but Yue don't you remember, Yukito has play practice right now."  
  
"Oppps," said Yue and he stood up and helped Sakura up. Sakura pulled the piece of paper from her pocket and wrote with her key on the ground the symbols that Ray had given her. A rush of air was misplaced and they landed on the roof of Sakura's roof where Ray was sitting.  
  
"Bye," shouted Nakura as she dragged Yue through the air, lecturing him about thinking about his alterego other life.  
  
"How was it?" asked Ray.  
  
"Great. I was thinking how did you and Eriol meet because I was like thinking about that tonight."  
  
"After I killed that girl at the orphanage and I realized my powers I kept having this recurring dream about Eriol. I sought him out and that is how we meet, he was doing the same. I helped him create Nakura and Suppi. If that answers your question, I really want to spend some time with Eriol."  
  
"Sure, go right ahead."  
  
Ray jumped into the air and turned into a huge green slimy dragon with a fifty-foot wingspan and flew to Eriol's house. She landed in the bushs and detransformed and changed her clothes into something more suiting for her. She wore an X shirt that was in the shape of a x, obviously and a pair of pair of baggy drawstring pants.  
  
She let herself in and walked to the place where she heard the most noise, which happened to be the bathroom. Eriol was fully dressed, unfortunately and was preparing to shave. He was using whipped cream because Nakura had used the last of his shaving cream for her legs and armpits. He cupped his hands in the bowl of whipped cream and Ray snuck up on him and she covered his eyes with her hands.  
  
"Guess who," she whispered into his ear.  
  
His ear itched from her warm breath on it and said, "Ray."  
  
"How did you know it was me?" she said, pretending to pout.  
  
"Only you would do that and make it impossible to hear you sneak up."  
  
"Why are you shaving, I like the wild look," she said flirting as she rubbed the stubble on his chin.  
  
"I guess I won't, I'll do this," and he shoved whipped cream in Ray's face playfully.  
  
Ray licked it off her face and picked a gob out of the container on the sink and threw it at him. It was all-out war, both of them covered in whipped cream. It ended when Ray slipped in a clump of it and wiped out, eriol falling over her and landing on top of her.  
  
"You look good like this," he remarked, making it impossible for her to move, even though she had no intention of moving.  
  
"I know," she said grinning and added," Can you get the whipped cream off of my ear, its bothering me." Eriol leaned down and licked the whipped cream on the flap of cartilage below the ear.  
  
"I like you like this, completely helpless," he said grinning as he licked the whipped cream off his lips.  
  
"You know I'm not."  
  
"Now you are," and he leaned down and kissed her softly and Ray got lost in the moment and just kissed him. A fire lit between their bodies, bathing them both in warmth. Ray slid his shirt off him and ran her hands down his muscular chest and he shivered under her warmth. Ray's shirt had no openings in it so he slid his fingers under it and stopped sliding up her body. Ray felt this in anxious wishing, wanting him to touch her breasts. Suddenly the doorbell rang and they jumped, forgetting there was a world outside of themselves. Eriol slid his shirt back on him and Ray straightened her shirt. They both went downstairs and Eriol flung open the door, mad for whoever messing up the moment. On their doorstep stood Kaho. 


	22. Kaho

A/N Coldfire, about the whipped cream, one of my friends used it to shave her legs and they turned out great. It makes the skin silky, lol.  
  
Read and Review, I really want 100 reviews and I am so close. Sorry if the last chapters are short , it just has turned out that way  
  
  
  
A red haired lady with red eyes stood on the doorstep staring at the two people who greeted her. A tall boy with black hair and hard blue eyes that slightly reminded her of Harry Potter and a skimpy dressed girl with waist length auburn hair and crystal clear gray eyes and they stared back at here in shock. Ray whipped out her knife from her back pocket and held it threateningly.  
  
"I thought you were dead," Ray muttered in a whisper then rose her voice," What the hell are you doing here."  
  
"I came to apologize to what I had done to Sakura," she said calmly, unfazed by the knife flying through the air as Ray tossed it and spun it.  
  
"Bull shit," Ray said angrily," I may have not killed you before but I guess I will now, and this time I'll make sure you have no breath in your body," and she lunged at Kaho. Kaho was too slow to react but Eriol saved her before the knife sliced through her throat.  
  
"Ray, stop," he said. It was the curse of being a guardian. She had to obey her master, and instead of Sakura who was meant to be hers, Eriol was the only one she would obey.  
  
"Eriol, why can't I kill her," Ray whined.  
  
"I want to hear what she has to say," holding Ray's shirt so she couldn't possibly hurt Kaho. He had forgotten that Ray was created to handle any situation that may come up so she could easily get away from him, but sh eloved him too much and respected him too much not to obey him.  
  
"I came to apologize for what I did to Sakura. Brad was using me and slowly brainwashing me. I was too in love with him to realize what he was doing was wrong. I am sorry. I hope you will forgive me."  
  
"I forgive you," Eriol said sounding like a clergyman.  
  
"Eriol," Ray screamed," Can't you see that she is lying. She wants to put you off guard so she can then attack without anybody bothering her."  
  
"Ray, can you let us be for awhile. I need to have a heart to heart conversation with Kaho and I don't want your overwhelming blood thirstiness to get in the way."  
  
Ray grumbled and she pushed past Kaho but as she passed she slapped her across the face and calmly walked away. She walked down through the lawn and suddenly jumped up the air, landing on the roof. She slowly lowered herself down so she was even with the window overlooking Eriol's study. Kaho was rubbing her face where Ray had slapped her and they had sat down and were quietly talking. Eriol looked up and spotted her which she let him and he motioned for her to go and keave them alone. Out of respect for him, she grew two gold tipped white wings and flew to the roof of Sakura's house and did something that she had been longing to d o again, keep guard over the card mistress.  
  
Morning came and Ray was sleeping with one eye open with every one of her senses on alert. She sensed the approach as feeling lazy so she didn't look at who it was and when the person got within five feet from the house she sent them flying through the air and they hit the neighboring house and she could hear the manly swearing of the person she had just hit.  
  
"Sorry Yue," she said as she stood up and stretched.  
  
"No thanks to you," he muttered under his breath.  
  
"What are you doing here?"  
  
"uhhhh.."  
  
"Come on tell me," Ray said persistent.  
  
"Touya told me that Sakura always dreamed of having her boyfriend cook something for her so I wanted to make her breakfast," Yue looked very uncomfortable.  
  
"That is so sweet, lucky girl to have you," she reamrked grinning. "I'll see you later."  
  
Ray took off and flew towards Eriol's place, humming happily. She was going to see her boyfriend. Hopefully he was doing the same for her. She knocked on the door and hearing no answer let herself in. She leapt up the stairs, thinking that he was asleep and she wanted to wake him up. She flung open the door open with the enthusiasm of a little kid on christmas day and she almost passed out at the site. Clothes were strung all over the room and there on the bed slept Kaho and Eriol in each other arms. Her whole body started radiating anger and Kaho and Eriol woke up from the various glass in the room shattering and spraying in millions of pieces.  
  
Seeing they were both up she screamed at them as loud as powerful as cannon going off." What the hell are you doing in my bed with my boyfriend."  
  
"I'm not your boyfriend," remarked Eriol, absent mindly. He had a vacant look on his face like someone who had no idea what was going on. Ray almost took pity on him but being herself she had none.  
  
"Me not your girlfriend, do you know what happened last night?" she said exasperated.  
  
Eriol said like a robot ," Kaho is my one and only. You are a just Sakura's pathetic girlfriend who has been in love with me for years."  
  
Ray lost it and l lunged at Kaho drawing her knife and knocked her to the floor and starting stabbing her in a fit of rage." What did you do to him," she yelled, tears pouring out. Eriol called for Suppi and Ruby to help him save his girlfriend and they combined their attacks and sent Ray flying into the wall. Ray licked her lip and tasted blood from her nose.  
  
"How dare you hurt our master," accused Suppi.  
  
"We will punish all who hurt him and his beautiful girlfriend, Kaho," said Nakura in soldier fashion, sounding like a robot like the others with the exception of Kaho.  
  
"Not you too, Nakura," Ray muttered. She could fight them, she had the power to do it, even with all their powers combined they couldn't kill her but it would cost her a lot. Before the next red beam from Suppi could hit her she vanished, landing outside on the roof.  
  
"I will save you Eriol and Nakura, Kaho will pay for what she done to you," she muttered. She had never been to close to Suppi. They were exact opposites. Though she hated to wreak Sakura's beautiful breakfast, she needed someone to talk with. She jumped on the ground and heard Kaho sneak out of the house and she stood on the balcony looking down at Ray, dressed in a blanket.  
  
"Like what I have done to your friends and love," Kaho said in a confident grin.  
  
"Oh yeah, its great," she said sarcastically," This isn't the end, Kaho, I will defeat you."  
  
"You won't. You were lucky the first time but I have learned much. There will be a new victor this time, nd this battle starts now," she screamed as she said the last words and she sent out a blast of fire at the ground. Ray jumped out of the way and vanished. She was in no need of a fight. She reappeared down the street and ran down the street, using an old shirt she found a passing trash can to wipe her nose. She jogged over to Sakura's house and found the door locked that only angered her more and she kicked the door open, knocking it off the hinges and she laughed as she fixed it and snuck upstairs. She peeped into the air and saw Yue feeding her a piece of frech toast drenched in syrup with a fork. She smiled at the gentleness between the two.  
  
"Sorry to interrupt you two, but I need to talk with you," ray said interrupting the magic moment. Yue and Sakura jumped apart and stared at her angrily.  
  
"What would be so important to interrupt us," Yue said coldly.  
  
"I'm having problems with Eriol."  
  
"Don't come to me with all your problems, figure them out for yourself," added Sakura, following Yue's lead as she ushered Ray downstairs and out the door then slammed the door in "Ray's face. This was becoming an awful day. She walked down the street down cast. Everyone was abandoning her. What was she to do? She was someone who did things, not planning things out. She had no sense of direction, Eriol was her stable point in her life. Her best friend and her boyfriend hated her. She was all alone and Sakura was too in love with Yue to notice her pain. Nothing could make her day worst but yet it did. She made the mistake of walking through the park and bumped into a pissed Syoran who was riding his bike around the park to get rid of his aggression for losing Sakura.  
  
"Why the hell you are doing bumping into me," he yelled, holding his skinned knee from the pavement.  
  
"I'm sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going," she muttered, dirt staining her white X shirt.  
  
Syaorn noticed who it was and grinned evilly and pulled out his ofudus form his back pocket and threw I tout hitting it with his sword. Wind rushed at Ray but she dodged it and screamed," Why the hell are you doing this to me, I did nothing to you."  
  
"I lost Sakura because of you, now die."  
  
This incursion just made Ray even sadder and angrier then she was and she drew her knife and she threw it knocking him unconscious with the flat side of her blade, not wanting to hurt him and she walked to the end of the park where a huge concrete wall stood overlooking the city and it was a steep drop, where someone could kill themselves. She grinned sadly. Everyone hated her and she was all-alone. Everyone thought she was fearless but she wasn't. She was afraid to be alone. She gulped and stared at the drop. It would certainly kill her, that was if she wanted to. A life where Eriol didn't love her was one she didn't want to live. Everyone was so absorbed in their own lifes to care about her. She had no one to care about her. She closed her eyes and jumped, plummeting to the ground. 


	23. How to fix what she started

Insaneey-thank you so much, glad u like it enough to review 7 times, but ya should have made them different so I could enjoy them more, but thanks anyway, the thought is what counts  
  
An auburn haired girl with icy gray eyes fell towards the ground, with serene calmness. This girl had accepted the fact that she was dying. After falling a few feet her eyes snapped open in realization. Two wings floated around her, stopping her midair and she cruised to the top. If she died, who would save everyone from Kaho's wrath. Nakura and Eriol had no idea what they were doing and they were under her control. She also had to show Syaoran who was boss. She shook from head to toe in thought of what she had just done. She was scared, she was slowly losing it. So what if Sakura didn't care, she would pay for it later when she gets to when they are somehow parted they will be both be miserable. She ran down the path of the woods, drinking in the sites like it was her last day alive. She skipped down the path and jumped over the railing of the bridge to wade in the pond. The water-cooled her off, removing the sweat on her legs and getting her sweat pants wet but she didn't care. Why worry about such simple things like that? She jogged to Sakura's house and stopped when she got to the road that overlooked it. She leapt into the air and quietly walked through the wall, appearing in Sakura's room. She snuck down the stairs and peaked into the living room. Yue and Sakura were making out on the couch when unexpectedly the doorbell rang. Sakura got off the couch and Yue and Kerberos who was chaperoning them, hid in the kitchen.  
  
"Kaho, what are you doing here?" asked Sakura which the guardains could hear form the other room. "I thought you were dead."  
  
"Nah, Ray didn't finish me off, can I come in?"  
  
"No you can't," said Yue stepping from behind the wall.  
  
"You tried to kill her, you might do it again," said Kerberos, now transformed into a golden lion with ruby armour.  
  
"I have no attention of doing that."  
  
Yue and Kerberos stepped in front of Sakura and replied in unison," You can't come in."  
  
"Guys, back off, she isn't going to hurt me. I forgiven her, now come in.," and she escorted Kaho in. Ray swore from her position, she had to stop it before Kaho could brain-wash them like she knew she would. It was impossible, she would have to give up her postion and reveal she was spying on Sakura and Sakura would be even more pissed at her then she already was. If she was to beat Kaho at her game she needed to know what she did to them. She dove down the stairs and in a quick zip, turned into a fly and landed in the kitchen so she could spy on their conversation. She detransformed so she could hear them and turned herself invisible. Kaho sat in front of them and held out a small necklace and started spinning it, lulling her audience into a sleep. She muttered to the tranced Sakura and her guardians," When you awake, you will obey my every word. You will go around and oppose Ray. Now awake."  
  
Ray was feeling sick to her stomach and started walking up the stairs, silent like a cat. It made her sick what Kaho was doing to them. She snuck into Sakura's room and saw Touya sitting on the bed, waiting for her.  
  
"What are you doing here," whispered Ray.  
  
"I saw what Kaho has done to them and it disgusts me. It's hard to believe I ever loved her. Anyway I had a vision about how to fix this."  
  
"Tell Tell."  
  
"Go back to the past and see Clow Reed."  
  
"Okay thanks."  
  
"I saw what happened at the park. Remember that there are people that care about you."  
  
"Thanks," ray said genuinely touched at his kindness." I got to be going," and Ray leapt out the window. She was incapable of going into the past so she had to borrow the return card from Sakura. She couldn't now, Kaho knew her presence and she would stop her. She would come back later. She landed softly on the ground and broke out in a run towards the strip club, which was open at this hour. She needed some cheering up. Nothing better then hearing guys whistles as you strutted your stuff.  
  
Ray tossed her hair over the stain on her white wife-beater which a drunk dude' had spilled on her. It was almost midnight and now would be the time to get the card. She could use it and return it to herself. Since she was a guardian she could make the cards appear in her hand and the cards would obey her, but now that Kaho had control of them, Sakura would sense the card's aura leaving the deck because that would trap the card sprit in her own version of a card. If she stole it, then the card wouldn't be released. So what if the cards were signed by Sakura, the cards had to know what happened and would obey her.  
  
She reached the house and kicked off her shoes and unzipped her pants, being the ones that had three parts and she made them from full-length pants to a pair of booty pants. She jumped up, grabbing the windowsill and pulled herself up, smearing her red pants with the dirt on the house. She cringed and carefully watched as Sakura stirred. She breathed a sigh of relief and slid open the window. She slid in and she was almost in tears. Kaho had ordered Yue and Sakura to sleep in the same room with no blankets or anything with each other separate and she almost burst into tears. It was so sad. She could sense the longing to hold they had to hold each other but they were powerless to do anything. Kerberos slept on the floor, in his big form, not allowed to transform. He was by the window, the draft blowing on him, and she felt sorry for him. She was born being inner cold, emotionless. She stepped over him and walked to the desk and slowly opened the desk drawer so it didn't make a sound. She rummaged through the drawer and found the Clow book and opened it. Cards swirled around her head in greeting and she plucked out the Return card out of the circle. She stuck it in her back pocket and she heard a noise behind her. She turned around and saw Sakura stirring and her eyes snapped open. It wasn't a fluke this time, it was for real. She jammed the cards into the book and slammed the drawer and dove out the window. Sakura rushed to the window and called the Windy card, still in a sleepy daze and shouted," Windy, become a binding chain and stop her."  
  
Windy charged at her and she jumped every few steps avioding it. Sakura shouting awaked Yue and Kerberos and they rushed to their mistress side and watched Ray as she fought Windy. Ray spun around and let Windy catch her then a power from within her heart emerged and sent Windy flying off her, slamming into the house and Windy retreated in to the card. She ran, waving the card above her, obnoxiously, trying to make her mad.  
  
"Yue, Kerberos, attack."  
  
Yue and Keberos lunged out the window like sharks sensing blood. Ray groaned and decided to fight them. Kerberos sent out a wave of fire and Ray countered it with a blast of water. Yue sent out his ice crystals and ray melted it with fire. They were weak compared to her. She jumped into the air as they lunged at her, knowing their powers were pathetic compared to hers, hoping that they could win in a psychical battle. Ray could beat them if she wanted but she wasn't in the mood to fight. She transformed into a flea and since it was so small, she couldn't be seen.  
  
"Where the hell did she go," muttered Kerberos.  
  
Ray smiled within and realized that they were stupider now that they were controlled by Kaho. She waited until they all left and she transformed into a falcon and flew towards toward the park. She landed in a grassy pasture and tapped the card with her staff and muttered," Take me into the past to see Clow Reed." A tunnel of wind surrounded her as she shouted those words and closed her eyes, enjoying the rush time traveling gave her. She landed on the ground in a big bump and she pulled herself up and looked at her surroundings. So green was the grass that it made your eyes hurt. The sun shone a path to a white house with brown trimming. The site brought tears to her because it looked exactly like Eriol's. She sniffed and walked over the door and knocked on it. A long haired man answered the door and made Ray go week in the knees. He was a older version of Eriol.  
  
"Can I help you?" he asked.  
  
Ray gulped at him, shaking like a leaf.  
  
Clow brushed his black hair out of his face and could sense her distress.  
  
"Is something wrong, miss."  
  
Ray fought the tears bellowing in her eyes but it won out and she started bawling her eyes out and Clow let her cry on his shoulder and escorted her inside.  
  
For the first time, he noticed how pale Clow was and she knew he was slowly dieing.  
  
After Ray stopped crying and looked at her and asked," You look so familiar, do I know you?"  
  
"Kinda, you know that baby that you found on your doorstep, that is me. I am from the future, and I have a slight problem," and she went on the explain her dilemma.  
  
"So my future self and my heir has been brainwashed by this lady Kaho, who is part of the Clow destiny."  
  
"Yeah, what should I do?"  
  
"You were sworn to protect them both at all costs," Ray leaned forward in vast interest." The spell this Kaho lady used is called a advanced hypothesis. Even if Kaho dies, the spell will stay on them. She will use them all to attack you. The only way to heal them is to kill her then somehow stop the effects of it at the exact moment she dies. Time and Return can reverse it but Time will only heal the strongest and Return will heal the weakest."  
  
"But who then will it heal," Ray said concerned, her mind three steps ahead of him, fearing the worst.  
  
"Sakura is the powerfullest so she will be healed. The guardians as a whole are the weakest so they can be healed by Return."  
  
"But what about Eriol?"  
  
"To be saved, he will have to die."  
  
"But that isn't saving him?" she exclaimed.  
  
"Even beyond the grave, Kaho can control him. It would save him."  
  
"But I can't do that, I love him," she yelled, starting to sob again.  
  
"If you really loved him, you would do the best for him.," Clow said, wise as always.  
  
Clow lifted her chin so she was looking him right in the eye. "I created you to be not effected by petty human emotions, to be the ultimate warrior, but you were too human. You fell in love and it weakens you. To be the best, you have to do what needs to be done."  
  
Ray was trapped in his eyes, paralazed. He was Eriol. Her longing for him, her lover made it impossible to fight the urge to touch him, kiss him.  
  
Clow, like he was reading her thoughts muttered into her ear," I 'm not Eriol, Stormy."  
  
His words snapped her out of her trance at the hearing of her true name.  
  
"Follow your heart, Stormy and all will be all right, love is doing what is best for someone not what is best for yourself," he said as he showed her out the door. Ray hit the card and appeared on the grassy field in the present day. She held up the card and kissed it and willed it to appear in Sakura's room. She turned around and walked down the street. She needed to have a little talk with Syaoran. Show him not to mess with her! 


	24. The fianl confortation

Two hard gray eyes stared up at the brick hotel that was right in fornt of her. The wind blew the red cape she wore up and down and she shivered in the wind's reach. She had changed her clothes to something more fitting. She had a red cape that tied around her neck with a black bra top that was hooked to the cape made out of metal. On the lower half of her body she wore a puffy short black skirt and a pair of spiky heel boots. In her hand was her staff transformed into a skinny whip. Ray knocked on the door and a muscular boy answered the door. He had brown wind-tousled hair with amber eyes.  
  
"Hello Syaoran," she sad spookily trying to sound like the dude' on Hannibal.  
  
"Ray," was his only reply.  
  
"I want a dual. If I win, you will leave me alone, if I lose then…well…you can call the shots," she put out her offer.  
  
"Deal," he said coldly, confident he would be the victor." Can you hold on a second?" and he left.  
  
"Sure whatever," Ray said rolling her eyes and looking around the hotel. It was very nice with oriental rugs covering the floors and a golden staircase to her right. A fountain bubbled and she walked over to it and dipped her hand into it, enjoying the coldness of it.  
  
A few minutes pasted and Syaoran returned," Come this way," he said pointing her in the right direction. Ray followed him and they came tot his indoor arena where the whole clan was waiting to watch their future leader battle. Ray took the side closest to the door and Syaroan crossed the room and took his place.  
  
"On the sound of the gong, you may start," yelled a Chinese guy and he slammed the gong with a wooden mallet.  
  
Syaoran drew his sword, knowing he couldn't defeat her in a battle of forces. She couldn't be as good as he was with his sword. He charged at her, sword ready to spear her. Ray looked on amused and decided to let this battle go on for awhile and she jumped into the air and changed her staff into a saber and the battle was on. Syaoran charged at her and swung every which way trying to get her, forgetting his training not to let your emotions get the better of you.  
  
As ray blocked his every shot she remarked," Why are you doing this?"  
  
"Its your fault that Sakura doesn't love me anymore."  
  
"Well I wonder why, you tried to kill her."  
  
"I had to do it, I wanted to be the leader of the clan," and he swung his sword at Ray's head which she ducked.  
  
"You already were, the killing was a test to see how much you loved her. If you didn't do it, you would have gotten the cards for your clan by marriage, baka."  
  
"Shut up, and he stuck his sword into her stomach, which Ray didn't even try to block. Blood poured out of her and Ray closed her eyes and new skin grew where the cut was.  
  
"No way," Syaoran whispered.  
  
Ray opened her eyes and said with a sad grin," Sakura will not make the cards for you anymore because of you kissing her. The clan has no interest of you being the leader, they give Ty the job." Ray sprung in to the air to avoid Syaoran's swing. This battle would end now. A bubble surrounded her, letting her float in the air and the sun shone down on Syaoran, blinding him. Ray zoomed down to him and sent out a bombardment of ice crystal, shredding his clothes and making him bleed, his whole green battle costume bathed in blood.  
  
Ray landed the ground and said softly," This battle is over. I have won, good bye," and she vanished. She reappeared outside, a block down from the hotel, clutching her stomach. The healing was an illusion, she could not heal herself. She used her staff to reveal her backpack and she pulled out a needle and thread and a needle filled with a clear liquid. She injected the needle into her stomach and it went limp. Ray threaded the needle and sewed up her ouch, feeling every stitch, despite the Novocain. Novocain never really affected her. She smiled happily when she was done and ran to the park, grimacing at every step, her stomach still hurt. She got to a cliff that overlooked the town and she concerted, making her head appear in the sky.  
  
"Kaho," she began, getting Kaho attention. Kaho was sitting outside the Kinomoto household, making sure Sakura and Eiriol and crew didn't get out.  
  
"Kaho, meet me at the park in a hour, We will decide who is the master," and her head disappeared in the sky. Ray grinned, looking back in her memories at what she had just done. She had made a point not to mention Sakura and crew. It would make Kaho suspicious. Kaho would bring them along so it would be impossible for her to lose. Ray hoped that Clow was right, she was the ultimate warrior. She would beat them.  
  
A hour passed and ray reflected on Eriol. How he was always there for her. The way his kisses always reminded her of sugar. How he had used beilived in her and made her feel safe. She would miss him, but Clow was right. She ad to do what was best for him, not what was best for herself. She had no clue how to save him. She couldn't reverse death. It wasn't one of the powers Clow gave her.  
  
She heard someone approaching and stood up. Kaho appeared with her little army of Sakura, Eriol and their guardians. When she saw Sakura she looked through her searching for the time and return card and she found them. She silently gave them orders and she knew that they would obey her.  
  
Kaho screamed at her little minion," Attack," and they surged forward. The guardian sent out their attacks and Eriol sent out a wave of fire and Sakura used fiery. Ray dodged them and surged towards Kaho, not wanting to hurt her friends. Kaho looked on in shock as ray barreled toward her, the knife ready to run her through, She side stepped and Ray was pelted by Shot sending her flying over the edge of the cliff and she hung on to the edge for dear life. Eriol walked towards her, grinning evilly and Ray sent him flying with a psychic wall that would prevent all humans form getting near her. It would not protect her from the cards. She had to think, how did Sakura capture the card? She sent out mirror, that's it. Ray sent out the mirror card and Mirror reflected shot at itself and then helped Ray get up. Kaho looked on cocky, things were going her way. Rya couldn't fight them all at once so Ray had to strategize. She jumped into the air swirling her cape around her and vanished. Everyone except Kaho looked around dumbly. Their intelligence had dropped over 80% since Kaho's spell and Kaho cursed for choosing the spell she chose. Ray had something up her sleeve. It was too late for Kaho when she realized what was happening. Ray had appeared behind her and stabbed her in the back, killing her just like what happened to Brad. Time and Return appeared just as Kaho took her last breath and healed everyone except Eriol. They opened their eyes for the first time in days and took in the beautiful sites, able to think for themself. Eriol advanced on Ray, still under Kaho's control despite Kaho being dead.  
  
Tears clouded ray's sight as she knew what needed to be done. She did the one thing she had been raised to do, kill. She stabbed him with her knife and He toppled to the ground. The cut would be fatal. His eyes snapped open, free from the glassy look.  
  
"Thank you Ray," he said, his voice reflecting the pain he felt.  
  
"Don't leave me, Eriol," she said, tears streaming down her face and she kissed him tears running into the taste of her lips.  
  
"I'm free," he said, grinning sadly.  
  
"You can't leave me, please don''t, fight it," Ray yelled desperate for him to live.  
  
"I love you," and he blinked his eyes for the last time. 


	25. Eriol

A/N Sorry this so short, I have an idea and it would be best to put it in the next chapter, now what do you want to happen to Syaoran  
  
1)leave the clan  
  
2)die  
  
3)be miserable and try to get Sakura back  
  
the choice is up to you, make good due of it.  
  
If you were to look at the sites, it would have been a very strange one indeed. A black haired boy lay on the red stained grass with a beautiful auburn haired girl kneeling beside him, weeping. Within a few feet of them, lay a red haired lady kissing the ground, dead. A wild assortment of people looked on: a human angel, a lion with ruby amour, a pink human butterfly, a panther, and a girl who resembled the girl by Eriol's side.  
  
Ray wept freely, and muttered things to the sky. Her only love was gone. There would be no kisses or flirting or anything. A single tear streamed down her face and hit Eriol in the face. She had to save him, but how? She couldn't do the thing she did for Sakura, it was a one-time deal and Eriol would then be alone. Clow's words echoed through out her mind." You are the ultimate warrior," he had said. She was and she had to save him. An idea ran through her head but she wasn't powerful enough to do it. Transfer her powers for a short while to Eriol then when he was awake, remove them, but she wasn't strong enough to do it.  
  
"Please help me Clow," she muttered.  
  
The words triggered something and a light surround Ray, engulfing her in it. Two wings surround her and then released and everyone stared in shock. Ray's hair had grown to her knees and two braids of her bangs were on the top of her hair, pulled back. Tendrils of different colors, beside the bronze of her hair, adorned her face. Her eyes had stayed the same pale beautifulness and her features had not changed. On her body was a green dress with faded colors of bright to lightness. On her feet was a pair of pure gold high heels with a skinny three-inch heel. Two huge wings tipped in gold stood on her back, erect, ready to fly. All together she looked like a god. If Sakura hadn't seen the transformation, she would have never known that it was Ray. She knelt beside Eriol and put her hands to his chest and red ribbons of pure energy went into him.  
  
When Eriol woke up, he was looking at a beautiful yet strange lady that he didn't recognize. His vision unblurred and mumbled," Who are you?"  
  
"Oh my god, I did it, yipppeee." she shouted.  
  
"Can you quiet down, I have a headache."  
  
"O, I'm sorry," and she leaned down, finally giving into the urge to kiss him.  
  
Eriol found himself looking into a pair of confident gray eyes," Ray," he whispered.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
Eriol forgot about his injuries and sat up and hugged her." Thanks, you look different though," he said, then grunting as he laid down again, clutching his stomach where the knife was still implanted.  
  
"I don't know what happened to me," she said as she got out her Novocain and thread and needle. She stabbed him with a needle and everything went numb. She yanked the knife out and in a hurry so he didn't lose a lot of blood, sewed him up.  
  
"Thanks," he mumbled.  
  
"You're welcome," she said, saying back and forth and collapsing in a heap on the ground, her transformation gone. Eriol picked her up and carried her to his house. She was wiped form healing him. 


	26. The Yue and Yukito conflict

A pale young girl laid on the couch, her auburn hair stained in sweat. She was having a nightmare. A black haired boy sat beside her, watching over his lover and his savior. Ray's gray eyes snapped open in shock and she looked around nervously. When seeing Eriol, she calmed down and lay back down.  
  
"What's wrong," Eriol asked, putting his book down, concerned about her.  
  
"It's nothing, I had a dream where I didn't save you and I was all alone."  
  
"Poor you," Eriol muttered, stroking her forehead then kissed her softly on the lips.  
  
"How are you feeling?" Ray asked, looking up at his bright blue twinkling eyes.  
  
"I'm fine, the Novocain hasn't worn off though," he admitted glumly. " Oh I have something to show you," and he pulled out his book and flipped to the page he marked with a thin slip of paper and he handed her the book.  
  
Ray scanned the page, it was Clow's diary and it read:  
  
October 30 or 31, no idea what the time is- Feeling awful today. My magic is no use to my disease. I found a baby, a girl on my doorstep and I have named her Stormy. I found her just after finding out my heir's destiny where my descendent kills her. I had to stop it. The girl was the answer to my prayers. I gave her all the combined powers of the cards I have created and many others. She is a born psychic, a very rare thing indeed. She will be sent to the future so Yue and Kerberos never find out about her until it is time for them to know. I implanted memories of my future self so that she will discover her powers. I didn't tell him that she will have a second form like Yue and Kerberos. Her form will only appear in a time of desperation, and it will be the ultimate warrior. Stormy herself, not transformed will be that way but her second self will have stronger powers. She shall never die, her sprit will live on forever, even though her body is mortal. God bless her and give her strength to survive the tests that will follow.  
  
Ray smiled at the diary. Clow had done his job well, she was the ultimate warrior. She had an ego problem, she knew that, but it was good to have confidence in yourself, right.  
  
"Cool," she said as she handed the booklet back to Eriol," Where'd you get it."  
  
"I found it in Fujitaka's house in the study," Eriol said shrugging then groaned. The Novocain was wearing off and he was feeling the stitches.  
  
Ray called for her bag with her mind and pulled out a bottle of pills made by her to stop pain. She twisted the triangle to the one on the rim of the container and the bottle popped open and she handed him to two pills and a bottle of water and stood up.  
  
Eriol popped the pills in his mouth and took a long swig of water." How do you stand it," he remarked.  
  
"What do you mean…the pain…I'm just used to it, I'm always in some sort of pain."  
  
"They work," he remarked dumbly, talking about the pills.  
  
"No duh."  
  
Eriol smiled at the words of his lover and he leaned forward to kiss her when the door and Nakura bounded in and seeing the sight of her best friend awake she glomped her. Nakura burrowed her neck on Ray's shoulder and whispered," I missed you so much, I'm sorry that i attacked you."  
  
"Tis okay," and Ray flipped Nakura off her back, still tired and sore from Shot hitting her.  
  
Nakura started laughing and said grinning," Glad to know you're back."  
  
Ray grinned right back and Nakura went straight to the point," You see there is this really cute guy that I have a date with and I need an outfit, can you make me one."  
  
"Sure, but why couldn't you ask Tomoyo?"  
  
"Well, look at you," and Ray looked down at her cape, metel bra top and, and her puffy shirt with pointy boots and blushed ."Tomoyo would never make me something like that."  
  
"Sure what do you want?"  
  
"Make me whatever you want…oh my the way, are either are you hungry?"  
  
"No duh, I haven't eaten since yesterday," Ray said and Nakura bounced out of the room slamming open the fridge to get the food needed to make pancakes, her favorite food.  
  
Ray cuddled next to Eriol, his arm around her possessively. She closed her eyes and drunk in his scent. Eriol rested his chin on Ray's head and closed his eyes too, calming his urge to be close to her.  
  
Several minutes later, Nakura walked in the room with a tray in her hand and smiled at the sight of her master and best friend. They were both sleeping, feeling completely safe in each others arms. Ray self-consciously shifted in his arms, grinning. They were oblivious to the real world. Nakura looked at the food and grinned slyly. If they weren't going to eat it, someone had to. She pulled out the knife and fork on the tray and began chomping away.  
  
Yukito and Touya walked home together from practice for the play. The theater was at the college and everyone was participating in it. Sakura and the whole gang were involved but Touya decided to give Sakura and the others a break, they have had a bad day. Yukito was walking home because despite Yue wanting to be with his lover, his mistress, he needed to give Yukito a chance to live his life.  
  
The night had come and it was a full moon, the stars shining over the whole town, rare thing indeed considering the smog and gases in the air. They say the moon does crazy things to people and it went for Yukito.  
  
He stopped and Touya turned to him and asked," What's wrong?"  
  
"Touya, can I be honest with you?"  
  
"Sure."  
  
Yukito took a huge breath and said," Ever since I meet you so many years ago, I well…been..," he attempted to choke out the words, but they wouldn't come.  
  
Touya leaned forward and kissed Yukito hard on the lips. Both of their lips seemed to be on fire as they frenched. Touya pulled back and remarked," I know what you meant, thanks for telling me."  
  
Yukito and Touya strolled down the street holding each other hands and miles away Ray smiled in her sleep.  
  
The orange sun raised above the horizon of a pink sky and Ray stirred. She found a blanket surrounding her and Eriol and she lightly smiled. Nakura must have covered them in their sleep. She could smell the scent of something cooking and it eventually wafted over to her and it was french toast, Suppi's specialty. She nudged Eriol and lightly nibbled on the cartridge of his ear gently and whispered," Wake up."  
  
"Do I have to?" he muttered just loud enough for her to hear.  
  
"That is if you want food, I think Nakura would gladly eat your portion."  
  
Eriol grumbled and stood up, helping ray up, pulling her wrist.  
  
"Save me some food, I have to change my clothes," she whispered as they walked into the kitchen.  
  
Ray walked with that calm strut of her and let herself in into Nakura's room. She wanted to steal back some of her clothes.  
  
Ray appeared downstairs several minutes later and Eriol's jaw dropped. She looked magnificent. She was wearing one of his old sweatshirts that was way to small for him that hugged every curve of hr body and came to above her bellybutton, its redness contrasting her hair. She was wearing on her legs a pair of loose plaid pants with a pair of cow-spotted slippers.  
  
"So how do I look?" she said, spinning around, very knowing well she looked awesome.  
  
Eriol looked at her seductively. He started to mental undress her and he felt a slap within his mind.  
  
"Don't get any ideas, Mister, save for the ideas for later," she said mysteriously, grinning coyly.  
  
Nakura burrowed her head in to her pile of food on her plate and she handed Ray her plate. Ray gobbled it right up and started going through the fridge, searching for anything to eat.  
  
As Ray rumbanged through the fridge, Nakura remarked," How the hell do you stay so skinny."  
  
"Exercise, baby, maybe you should try it sometimes."  
  
"Take that back," and Nakura started chasing Ray around the room with a frying pan in her hand, trying to whack Ray. Eriol brust out laughing and Suppi started at them, embarrassed to actually know these people.  
  
Several days passed and Ray had made a habit of stating at Eriol's place, both finding comfort in each other. Ray got enjoyment out of that. But despite their enjoyment, Sakura was miserable. Touya and Yukito spent all their time together and it made her so mad. She wanted to spend some time with Yue. She stormed down the stairs and as she passed Touya, she slapped his butt which was sticking out of the fridge.  
  
"Why did you do that, you little monster."  
  
"You're spending all your time with Yukito, I want to spend some time with Yue," she whined.  
  
"No way, squirt. Me and Yuktio finally found each other, you have been with Yue for years."  
  
Sakura growled and stomped his foot.  
  
The only way to make them both happy was to spilt up Yue and Yukito and she knew just who she needed to see. She snapped on her roller-blades and skated down the street, across town to where Eriol lived. Ray would properly be there. She knocked on the door and little back furball answered the door, its fur puffing out. Sakura laughed at the sight of Suppi and walked in and watched as Nakura attempted to give Suppi a bath.  
  
"I'm going up to see Eriol," and without getting an answer, she leaped up the stairs.  
  
"I don't think you should…" but Nakura's words were wasted, Sakura wasn't listening.  
  
Sakura opened the door and was appalled with what she saw. Clothes were strung all over the room and a single sheet covered Ray and Eriol's sleeping form. Ray was slightly below him, cuddled up in the warmth of his body.  
  
She didn't have the guts to awake them so she crossed the room to the blinds and let the sunshine in.  
  
"Turn it off," mumbled ray," I'm trying to sleep.  
  
Sakura tried to keep her temper but she couldn't resist giving the lecture.  
  
"You slept together, didn't you."  
  
"Well no duh, idiot," saiid Eriol, still half asleep. He was not a morning person.  
  
"You were supposed to wait till your married and did you use condoms and birth controls pills and…"  
  
Ray rolled over and shook Eriol awake and said," Don't give us the high and mighty lecture. For one, I have no attention of marrying. Two, why worry about such things like pills and condoms, we're sorcerers. Magic is a beautiful thing, huh."  
  
Sakura was too speechless for words and she rolled her eyes.  
  
"Ummm, can you leave us so we can get dressed," Ray said.  
  
"Sure," and Sakura left the room and went in the kitchen. Ray and Eriol appeared shortly, Ray dressed in a white rock tank top and a pair of a red pair of booty shorts.  
  
"What was so important that you had to interrupt our fun," Ray said as she poured a bowl of Golden Grams into her bowl.  
  
"Touya and Yukito have realized their feeling for each other, and I don't get to see Yue," she said, whining.  
  
"So what do you want us to do?" Eriol asked, spooning food into ray's mouth. He wasn't hungry.  
  
"Can you spilt up Yue and Yukito? Please," Sakura said.  
  
"We need to do some research before we do it," said Eriol, helping ray pick up her dishes and walk them to the sink where Ray would wash them.  
  
"What do you mean? Aren't they just connected by a body. I know you have the power to make a new body with that crystal of yours."  
  
"One slight problem, we don't have it anymore," and Ray laughed nervously.  
  
"After I got back here, Kaho came back and destroyed the crystal after brainwashing me."  
  
"So what are you going to do?"  
  
"Give us a day and we'll get back to you, okay."  
  
"K, I shall be going," and she bounded out the door humming some song. She would get her Yue back.  
  
Ray stood beside Nakura, holding up the outfit that she had made for her. Night was falling and Nakura had her date. She had gotten a note from a secret admirer and she wanted to look great for him. Nakura pulled out the note from her pocket and silently read it, shrieking as she went. It read:  
  
My dearest Nakura, you don't know me. Well actually you do but you will never expect who I am. I have been through hell the past year and then I would see your smiling self and my heart would race. I have never showed you my devotion to you, but I'd like to start now. Meet me at Tomeda elementary school. Ja ne  
  
Sincerely your secret admirer  
  
Ray shrieked along with her, excited for her best friend. She deserved a nice guy. Ray held up her outfit and asked," Do you like it?" Nakura looked over the outfit critically. She loved it. It was a purple lace long sleeved bra top with a pair of low rise jeans with a long blue frayed line going up the sides.  
  
"I love it, thanks."  
  
"You're welcome, now try it on."  
  
"Ok," she said, hugging Ray before she kicked Ray out of her room so she could change.  
  
Nakura came out, admiring the way the outfit fit her. The jeans were tight and flared and the shirt helped give her some cleavage.  
  
"I should be going," Nakura said grabbing her purse and rushed down the stairs.  
  
"Have fun," Ray shouted as Nakura slammed closed the door.  
  
Nakura got on her bike and strolled through the streets, enjoying the cool night air. She came to the school and parked her bike outside it and looked to her left where the picnic tables were. A lone figure sat there, waiting nervously for her. He spun around and Nakura gasped.  
  
A/N Guess who Nakura sees, tell me your reviews 


	27. Syaoran and Nakura? The attempt to get Y...

A/N: Saturn's Fallen Angel, unfortunately u were wrong but I am putting you in because you did what I wanted people to say, luv ya  
  
n-sorry I couldn'r do what your review said, it was planed  
  
coldfire-How would u feel if your brother was spending all his time with your bf  
  
  
  
A young man with wind tousled brown hair and amber eyes looked at the girl before him, that he had drawn out here this night, Her long brown hair was in two braids wrapped in circles around the hair around her ear. Her frayed jeans complemented her long legs and the lilac top set off the brown in her eyes.  
  
"Nakura," was the only word he spoke and winced at her gasp.  
  
"Syaoran…why…why me," she stuttered." I never thought you thought of me that way."  
  
"Sure, I never showed interest in you, but I have always thought you were cute…please give me a chance."  
  
Syoaran walked over to her and lightly kissed her on the lips. All the blood ran to her head but she had to keep her head on straight. Why her? Why now? Words that Ray had said to her a long time ago echoed thorough her head. Never trust the wolf. Ray had said that right after Syaoran attempted to kill Sakura. She pushed him away from her and muttered," This is wrong. I am sorry," and she started walking away. Syaoran grabbed her shoulder and said," Why are you leaving?"  
  
"Ray said something to me long ago. Never trust the wolf and she is right. You gave up your only love for power. How am I to know you won't do the same to me."  
  
"I have changed ," he said turning her into him.  
  
"How am I supposed to know that?" she whispered, looking into his eyes then pulled away before she could get trapped. She had always thought he was hot but he was Sakura's, therefore untouchable.  
  
"You could betray me like you did Sakura and I think you still love her. Ja," and she walked away. Syaoran ran after her and Nakura transformed into a red haired human butterfly and flew into the air, getting away from Syaoran. Nakura flew through the air, sobbing. Somehow in her grief she managed to get home. By then her tears had subsided and she was just feeling anger. She opened the door and walked into Eriol and Ray having a pillow fight, affectionately whacking each other. They didn't notice her for they were too involved in trying to beat each other. Whoever lost had to make and serve dinner for the other. Nakura was touched by his love for the petite stormy angel. He was so in love with her it pained her. He had never been so open or anything with any girl, including Kaho though they had gone out for years. The sight of them sent her to tears and she let out a huge sob. Ray immediately heard it and her and Eriol dropped their pillows and rushed over to the distressed moon guardian.  
  
"What's wrong," Ray whispered as she helped Nakura from the heap on the floor and hugged her.  
  
"It was Syaoran," she managed to sob out and she could hear Eriol cursing. "I remembered your advice and didn't trust him. He had something up his sleeve , I thought and when I tried to leave, he wouldn't let me leave," and she broke down completely. Ray and Eriol managed to lift Ruby onto the couch and Ray rubbed her back, trying for her to clam down. Eriol sat by the head of the couch-whispering thing to her to calm her down. Nakura sobbed and muttered," How come I never get lucky with guys. Everyone has someone to love except me," she complained. Eriol put his fingers to her head and whispered an ancient spell to make her sleep.  
  
Eriol watched his precious guardian's tears dry up and was consumed by a overwhelming rage towards Syaoran. Bastard, Nakura had been through hell with guys. At first it was that dude' Matsuo who would beat her because she talked to other guys. The dude' was some rich prep guy who was raised to think he was above women. Eriol had been in such a rage he had sent Ray on him, which he promptly died. The next dude' was sent to jail for drugs and Nakura wrote to him 24/7 until Eriol ripped up the address. For the next few years she avoided guys for the most part until Mamoru and now syaoran. He reached for his pendent and made it large with his chant. Ray grinned, knowing what he was thinking. They exited the house and Ray closed her eyes, willing her wings to appear. Eriol smiled, she looked like an angel. She was an angel sent by god to make him happy, he liked to think. Ray, despite being a shrimp was quite strong and he climbed into her arms, him being carried like a baby. Ray grinned at the sight of him being totally helpless, a change of pace from the usual. They landed next door to the hotel and Eriol climbed down.  
  
"So what did you have in mind?" she whispered  
  
"Torturing the wolf," was his only reply.  
  
"And you would mean?"  
  
"Let's see, die his hair lime green, turn his body red like a lobster like he is sun burn, you know things like that."  
  
"You are so evil," she said, whacking Eriol and added," I love it."  
  
Eriol grinned and muttered into her ear," What do you have in mind."  
  
"You'll see, now do your stuff," and she gave in a quick peck on the cheek. She cupped her hands and hoisted Eriol up so that he could reach Syaoran's window. Eriol found that the window was closed and shouted down to Ray," Open the window for me."  
  
Ray rolled her eyes and lowered him down so she could jump up and do it. He had issues with windows, he couldn't open them without squeaking them. Ray could always open it with magic but syaoran could sense magic so..slight problem. She jumped up, catching the rim and pulled herself up. She concerted and made the air go solid, creating a floor for her. She slid open the window and lay on her stomach grabbing Eriol's hand and pulled him up.  
  
Eriol climbed over Ray and they walked into the window. A brown haired boy lay asleep, arms under his head. Ray smiled slightly, he was so cute when he was sleeping. Unfortunately he wasn't when he was awake. Eriol spun his sun staff around his head and chanted the spell to dye his hair. Brown locks changed into a bright lime green, sticking straight up. His entire body turned red like it had been deprived of oxygen or sunburn and Eriol grinned evily.  
  
"Your turn, my dear," he hissed.  
  
Ray motioned for him to get near the window in case Syaoran woke up. She transformed herself in an angel with a red pitchfork. A holy light surrounded her and she began speaking.  
  
Syaoran was having a really good dream where he got back together with Sakura when suddenly an evil looking angel appeared in place of Sakura. It looked like Sakura down to the last eyelash.  
  
"Hello Syaroran," it said.  
  
Syaoran tried to run, but a wall appeared around them.  
  
"Don't run anyway yet, Syaoran. I have a bone to pick. You hurt my beloved Nakura and that I will not forgive," and it rushed towards him and sliced him every which way with the pitchfork. Blood ran down his arms and legs and his naked chest was slashed up in an X. Syaoran screamed for release, but the evil angel won't stop. He just reminded himself this was a dream and he wished himself to wake up. He sat up with a start, wiped the sweat off his forehead then noticed he was bleeding in the same places in the dream. He wondered who could have been that mean to do this him and it occurred to him it was Sakura. Nah, Sakura is innocent, but Ray…she could have done it.  
  
He could hear the high pitched laugh of Ray and he faced to the window, but no one was there.  
  
Morning came and Syaoran just got out of bed. He had been too tired to bandage his cuts so his bed was like someone leaked when they had their period. He walked to the mirror in his bathroom and his scream could be heard from down the street. Meilin ran next door to his room and looked at him and burst out laughing.  
  
"What is so funny?" he yelled.  
  
"Your hair….Your bed….Your body," she managed to choke out.  
  
"Why are you here?"  
  
"Have you forgotten, its your birthday. The clan has something to tell you."  
  
Syaoran grinned, he was going to be leader to the clan, he just knew it. He threw on some clothes and bounded happily down the stairs into the conference room.  
  
The whole clan sat in their seats, the elders in the front with Ty and Lerae in the front.  
  
"Syaoran, sit down,' said Ty and Syaoran plopped down, anxious to hear the words that he had longed for his entire life.  
  
"Six years ago, you were give the task to receive the cards. You failed and fell in love with the card mistress. All you had to do was marry her. We set it perfectly for you but you failed because of the tiger a.k.a ray. We gave you another chance, slay the tiger, and yet you failed again. Therefore, you will not become the leader of the clan and we are outcasting you. You are a shame to us."  
  
Tears wallowed up in Syaoarn's eyes and he looked around. Lerae was hanging her head in despair and Meilin was sobbing. Everyone looked at him, emotionless.  
  
"I'll slay the tiger, just let me stay a part of the clan," he screamed. He wanted to stay so badly. They were his family.  
  
"No, we have already given you more then enough chances. You vowed to get us the cards and you have failed," Ty said.  
  
Syaoran ran from the room and found his bags standing by the door. He grabbed them and lunged out the door, away form the people who once considered his friends and family.  
  
"It's your fault, Ray. I will kill you," he whispered.  
  
Ray skipped to Sakura's house, Eriol and his guardians behind her, panting. She reached the house and let herself in. Touya and Sakura sat with Yukito on the couch, Kerberos at their feet.  
  
"I heard you came up with an idea," Sakura said.  
  
"Yeppers, and hopefully it'll work, Ray said cheerfully," Now let's go outside."  
  
Night was falling and Ray told Yukito to stand in the middle of the yard and told Sakura and Eriol to stand opposite sides of him.  
  
"I am warning you, this is a one time spell, if it fails, we can't do it again."  
  
"How come?" asked Sakura.  
  
"This spell is the only one that can do it, splitting them up. It takes a bit of your life force and give it to them to create two bodies for each to inhabit. The spell is extremely draining and it takes exactly half of your life force meaning if you mess up, you'll die the second time around ."  
  
"Ouch," was Eriol's only reply. He himself didn't look for a way, he was too busy helping Nakura clean the house so Ray read through his Clow's diaries and discovered the spell.  
  
"Why can't you do the spell?" asked Touya.  
  
"My powers don't match his and my powers can only be controlled by me."  
  
"Alright, that makes no sense, but okay," Touya muttered.  
  
"Sakura and Eriol, take out your staff and look deep within yourself to find the core of your magic then nod when you find it."  
  
She waited until they nodded and she continued," This part takes exact precision. You have to release half of your powers in unison and they have to balance each other out. Everyone else don't say nothing."  
  
A pink beam of light and a white light joined in the center creating two blank bodies. Ray closed her eyes and whispered," Yukito, transform."  
  
Two wings covered him and Ray froze it with time. She released her powers and started draining Yukito and Yue spirt in the bodies. Eriol, Sakura and Ray were shaking from head to toe because of the power loss but they were almost done when suddenly something hit Ray from behind and stopped the transfer of bodies. Everyone watched in horror as the connection broke and the bodies disappeared and Yue and Yukito became one again.  
  
Ray spun around, ready to punch out whoever did this to them and was surprised to be facing a very angry Syaoran. 


	28. The end

A/N: this is the end, wow. Never thought I'd get this far, I have so many reviews I can't put in everyone that has but here are a few of the more people who stuck out  
  
Green Mystress  
  
Coldfire  
  
Jadewing  
  
Insaneey  
  
DevilsDarling  
  
Riley S  
  
Xia  
  
StephWong  
  
butterfly_grl4  
  
Yuelover  
  
SilverStarlightAngel  
  
Moonstar  
  
Sally  
  
Nyaoka-Kero  
  
Manda-chan  
  
Sakura-chan  
  
An auburn haired girl stared at a cute boy with messed up brown hair, her lips curled back in a snarl.  
  
"How dare you stop us!" she yelled." We were so close."  
  
"So…and why would I care?"  
  
"Bastard," she hissed." Why are you here?"  
  
"The clan kicked me out, and it is all your fault. I failed time after because of you. You will pay," and he rushed her, Ray barely getting out of the way. Ray was extremely weak from the power exchange. She leapt in the air and made the air solid and winked at Ruby. Ruby grinned; she knew what Ray had in mind. She would get her revenge. Syaoran faced Ray, not seeing Ruby sneaking up on him and at the same time, ruby and ray let loose their ice crystal, momentarily blinding him and that was all that Ray needed. She jumped from her perch and the whole sky flashed black and Syaoran's body disintegrated. She had used her deadly attack that resembled the ofuda that he would have used on Sakura to kill her. It was her own version of it. She muttered," What goes around, comes around.  
  
She turned to face Sakura crying.  
  
"What's wrong?" Ray asked, kneeling beside Sakura's sobbing form.  
  
"Yue and Yukito can never be free from each other. I wish I had a card to do the job, but I don't," she whined and as soon as she said the words, a light surround her and out popped a young girl with a handhold round mirror in her hand, her long hair streaming around her shoulders.  
  
"Mistress, do I have your permission?" mirror whispered.  
  
"Yeah, but for…?"  
  
Mirror held her hand in a halt to Sakura's words. She floated to Touya and kissed him on the lips softly." I am doing this for you, I love you," she whispered.  
  
She then looked Ray on the eyes and Ray nodded. She knew what Mirror was going to do. She loved Touya and her mistress so much. Mirror entered the half transformed Yukito and a form appeared next to him of a sleeping yue.  
  
The card that once held mirror shattered and Sakura smiled at the sight of her beautiful guardian angel.  
  
"What just happened?" Sakura asked.  
  
"Mirror gave up her life so you would be happy. Her spirt merged with Yue and Yue took over her body. A body itself is nothing. Its looks come from the spirt," Ray said.  
  
"Oh my god, she did this for me,"Sakura exclaimed.  
  
"Actually she did it because she loved your brother but…you can believe what you like."  
  
Sakura sobbed and she ran to Yue, and stroked his hair. She hadn't seen him in days. Ray smiled and walked away, they needed their time alone.  
  
Days pasted and Eriol was sitting on his balcony. He had been packing all day to go back to England and Nakura walked outdoors with a tray of food.  
  
"Eriol, can I talk to you?" she asked. Something that Ray had said echoed through her mind. The one who will be your soul mate will be right in front of you all the time.  
  
"sure, what's up," Eriol said, pulling up a chair for her.  
  
Nakura neeeded to know what ray said was true. She leaned forward and kissed him softly on the lips. Eriol just stared at her in shock.  
  
Eriol touched his lips right where she had kissed him and the tingle still remained. It seemed so right, but he had a girlfriend. He was so confused, he loved them both. But did he love Nakura that way? His thoughts were interrupted by the door slamming open and Ray walked out, her backpack slung over her shoulder, a pair of shorts and t-shirt with a aapir of running shoes on.  
  
"Nice going, Nakura," she said," Ja," and she walked down the road.  
  
Eriol jumped up and ran after her." Why are you leaving?"'  
  
"It's time for me to go. I need to find myself."  
  
"Are you mad at me for kissing Nakura?"  
  
"Nope!"  
  
"Then why are you leaving me?"  
  
Ray turned towards him."You deserve to be happy. You and Nakura will be happy together. Nakura has been in love with you since forever. Make her happy!"  
  
"But what about your duty to protect Sakura?"  
  
"Her and Yue will marry soon and Kerberos will stay around. All they need is to call and I'll be there. Just like for you. I will always love you," and she walked away in the distance. 


End file.
